Background: Foreign body ingestion by children is a commonly encountered problem and accounts for a significant emergency visits among pediatric population. Although these ingested foreign bodies pass spontaneously and uneventfully, a subset of such bodies may become trapped in the digestive tract, eventually leading to significant injury. Most of these bodies are radio-opaque and detectable radiologically, but some radio-lucent may become a diagnostic dilemma and subtle management issue.
Case Report: We report a case of a one-year girl who presented after accidental ingestion of foreign body with signs and symptoms of acute intestinal obstruction. Initially we were unable to diagnose the cause, but later the radiological investigation suspected a mesenteric cyst. After failure to respond to conservative measures she underwent exploratory laparotomy, and a jelly ball was removed from the gut. The patient had uneventful post-operative recovery and was kept on follow-up for three months without any complication.
Conclusion: These patients do not respond to conservative measures and need surgery on an emergency basis. It is likely that if left untreated may have caused Intestinal perforation and irreversible shock. Radiolucent foreign bodies are difficult to diagnose and need high level of suspicion. Need of the hour is to educate the parents to be extra vigilant as “prevention is better than cure”.
Hypopharyngeal Perforation Following Foreign Body Ingestion: A Case Report
