A 40-year-old male with a 20-year history of schizophrenia presented to the emergency department with long history of pharyngeal foreign body sensation which had progressed over one month to include sore throat, odynophagia, and dyspnea. Physical exam revealed asymmetric prominence of the right posterior oropharyngeal wall and trismus with maximal interincisural distance of two centimeters. There were tenderness, edema, and erythema of the right submandibular triangle without palpable mass.\nFlexible laryngoscopy showed fullness of the right posterior pharyngeal wall without mucosal abnormality, resulting in anterior displacement of the right aryepiglottic fold. This was encroaching on the airway but not causing critical airway stenosis. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the neck with contrast was obtained. This demonstrated a linear opacity extending from the oropharynx to the right thyroid ala. Reconstructed 3D images showed a uniform mass consistent with a foreign body (). Further psychiatric history was obtained and revealed a history of auditory hallucinations that had on several occasions led to suicide attempts, including one attempt two years ago in which the patient stabbed himself in the pharynx with a broken toothbrush handle. Prompt removal was recommended given risk for infection and airway compromise.\nThe patient was transorally intubated over a flexible bronchoscope and then underwent direct laryngoscopy. Swelling of the right posterior oropharynx and hypopharynx was noted (). An anterolateral neck incision was made and subplatysmal flaps were raised. The mass was easily palpated overlying the right thyroid ala, and blunt dissection allowed entry into the fibrous capsule surrounding the foreign body (). The capsule was opened, and the foreign body was removed. The length corresponded exactly to the length of the foreign body on the CT (). A sample was obtained for bacterial culture, the wound was irrigated, and a drain was placed. The patient was extubated and given a soft diet.\nVisual inspection and pathologic analysis confirmed that the foreign body was indeed a toothbrush handle. Cultures from the area grew heavy mixed bacteria including anaerobes. After an uneventful postoperative stay, the patient was discharged without complications. Discharge planning included psychiatry follow-up.
A 16-year-old girl presented to the emergency room of pediatrics department in our hospital with complaints of abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. Physical examination revealed tenderness on the right upper quadrant of the abdomen. Blood analysis showed increased white blood count (15, 91/μl) with left shift, an erythrocyte sedimentation rate of 78 mm/h, and C-reactive protein (CRP) 279 mg/l. The other laboratory examinations revealed increased levels of Aspartate transaminase (AST): 57 U/L, Alanine aminotransferase (ALT): 104.91 U/L, Lactate dehydrogenase (LDH): 599 U/L, and Alcalene phosphatase (ALP): 575 U/L.\nOn abdominal X-ray, a metallic lineer radio opaque image compatible with a foreign body was seen on right hepatic lobe localization (). Abdominal ultrasonography (US) examination revealed a 3cm long lineer echogeneity in segment 5 surrounded by an irregularly contoured heterogeneous hyper echoic area of 10×7cm in size (), and made us think about migration of a swallowed foreign body into the liver accompanied by an abscess formation. The patient was unaware of having swallowed any foreign body, but when we insisted on any possibility of such a condition, she remembered that she could have swallowed a sewing needle approximately a month ago while drinking water. She told that she saw a number of sewing needles in the water glass which she noticed after drinking some water. On further examination with abdominal computed tomography (CT), the metallic foreign body and surrounding inflammation were better demonstrated (Figs. , ).\nThe patient underwent surgical operation for the excision of the foreign body, but it could not be reached, and it was failed to get the foreign body due to patient's condition change during the operation. The patient went home with antibiotherapy for the surrounding inflammation. Two and a half months later the patient presented again with abdominal pain, and control CT examination demonstrated the migration of the foreign body inferomedially near to the gallbladder (Figs. , ). The surrounding inflammatory changes were disappeared. On reoperation with open abdominal surgery, the sewing needle was found easily due to its migration nearby the gallbladder, and it was removed from the liver. The patient recovered successfully after the operation.