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A feasible approach for extraction of dental prostheses from the airway by flexible bronchoscopy in concert with wire loop snares.

Tu CY, Chen HJ, Chen W, Liu YH, Chen CH

Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, Republic of China.

Tracheobronchial foreign body (FB) aspiration is a common problem worldwide, and the aspired objects can be very difficult to remove. Bronchoscopic removal of airway FBs can be safely accomplished with both rigid as well as flexible bronchoscopes. It is well known that a rigid bronchoscope more easily removes large FBs located in the central bronchi. A wide variety of instruments, such as biopsy forceps, Fogarty balloon catheters, alligator forceps, or wire baskets, are commonly available for removal. Herein, we report the case of a 75-year-old man with an airway dental prosthesis, the shape and composition of which complicated its extraction from the nearly totally occluded left main bronchus, using biopsy forceps and wire baskets. We describe the successful extraction of the challenging FB with a flexible bronchoscope in concert with wire loop snares and the avoidance of rigid bronchoscopy or thoracotomy.

Published 2 July 2007 in Laryngoscope, 117(7): 1280-2.
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