The Removal of an Endobronchial Foreign Body with the Fiberoptic Bronchoscope and Image Intensifier

Abstract

A 14-year-old girl was admitted on June 17, 1976, with a history of having aspirated a pin seven days earlier, causing an immediate severe cough that had subsided three days prior to admission. On admission, the patient was asymptomatic. The results of laboratory tests were within normal limits. A chest x-ray ifim revealed the foreign body in the posterior basal segment of the right lower lobe, a position inaccessible to the rigid bronchoscope. On June 18, under general anesthesia induced by intravenous administration of propanidid and with oral endotracheal intubation with a No. 34 F endotracheal tube, the fiberoptic bronchoscope (Olympus BF-5B) was introduced, and the subsegmental bronchi of the posterior basal segment were visualized. The foreign body was not visible, and the mucosa appeared normal. The biopsy forceps was directed under fluoroscopic guidance (Fig 1) toward the pin, which was removed in a manner similar to the removal of a coin with the rigid bronchoscope. The patient recovered uneventfully.