We report a rare case of a foreign body, a large snail, in the esophagus. A 20-year-old male, a freshman in college, was invited to a party at a music club and was requested by senior students to do a comical performance. He decided to swallow a large snail in its shell. Severe throat pain was immediately noted. He tried to induce vomiting, but was unable to and came to our hospital for emergency case. No foreign body was found in the hypopharynx. Plain X-ray examination showed a circular shadow in the neck, 3 centimeters in diameter. We identified the foreign body in the esophagus in the neck. We tried to remove the object with an endoscope under general anesthesia. The shell was found at the inlet of the esophagus and was spherical and smooth, which made it impossible to grip with forceps. Therefore, we removed the foreign body via external incision of the neck.
