Residual nasal foreign body – a case report and review of literature

Abstract

Nasal foreign bodies (NFB) account for up to 4.3% of all emergency otorhinolaryngological consultations in pediatric population. They mainly concern children aged 2-5 years old. If they remain unnoticed by a parent (e.g event happening without parental control, NFB hidden and forgotten by a child), they may stay asymptomatic for an unknown period (depending on the type of NFB and various additional circumstances) until further complications develop. Prolonged undiagnosed NFB may result in cartilage necrosis, what may lead to septal perforation or in extreme cases even to sepsis and meningitis. That is why, it is important to increase parents’ and caregivers’ awareness concerning this problem to prevent such hazardous complications. In our article we would like to present a case of a 2.5-year-old girl referred to our department by a pediatrician due to unilateral rhinitis with suspected residual nasal foreign body since unknown period, followed by mucous healing complications. We also conducted a literature review concerning the issue of NFB, and then analyzed.