2022 Volume 43 Issue 3 Pages 330-335
We experienced two cases of esophageal foreign bodies that were removed with pharyngolaryngeal surgery instruments. Case 1: an 11-month-old boy who accidentally swallowed a button battery, and Case 2: an esophageal foreign body (large amount of hair) in a 5-year-old girl with a history of 21 trisomy and congenital esophageal stricture. Both cases were removed by a pediatric surgeon under general anesthesia using an upper gastrointestinal endoscope, but the removal was difficult due to difficulty in grasping with the endoscopic forceps. Therefore, an otolaryngology/head and neck surgeon was called and used a laryngoscope and Laryngoforce II® grasping forceps for laryngeal microsurgery, which resulted in complete removal. In both cases, the foreign body was present in the cervical esophagus. In case 1, a high-voltage lithium battery was suspended in the esophagus and came into contact with the esophageal wall, producing hydroxide by discharge and adhering to the mucosa, and in case 2, the amount of hair was so large that it was difficult to remove it with a balloon catheter or forceps from the upper gastrointestinal endoscope. Laryngoscopes and forceps in pharyngolaryngeal surgery may be useful for removal of cervical esophageal foreign bodies in children.
