Abstract
The flexible esophagofiberscope has been developed which made the esophagoscopy easier and lessened the distress of the patient. The esophagoscope was sufficient for the diagnostic procedures at the points that it had no blind area in observation of the esophagus, the small lesion 2-3 mm in size could be diagnosed definitely and the aiming biopsy was modified more exactly. A small and soft foreign body could be removed with the fiberscope by sucking it to the top of the scope. In this report, for removing the hard and large foreign bodies, the special forceps which was designed to be applied to the esophagoscope was reported with special reference to its instrumentation and to our clinical experiences. The forceps consisted of a spiral-shaped outer wire tube of 2.2 mm in diameter through which the inner forceps was introduced, the tip of which would open because of its elasticity when it came out. The full opening distance of the tip was 1.5 cm. The forceps was introduced into the esophagus and stomach through the biopsy canal of the fiberscope. The grasping power of the forceps was strong enough to hold a weight of one kilogram. The number of foreign bodies removed with the esophagofiberscope was 57, among which the food mass was mostly frequent. The others included the false teeth, the PTP drug wrapping, coins, a coin-like plastic plate, toys, a spoon, seeds of pickled apricots, and so on. The superiorities of the esophagofiberscopic manipulations could be listed as follows:(1) the esophagofiberscope could dilate the esophageal lumen and could magnify the object for detailed examination, thus removing the foreign body in better conditions, (2) such as object as floating in the lumen could be removed without any difficulty, (3) the foreign body in the stomach could also be removed with the same technique.
