Use of Foley catheter in the removal of marble from the esophagus

Abstract

S i r Use of Foley balloon catheter, which is known for its versatility and easy availability, has been used to obtain haemostasis in a left atrial,tear during mitral commissurotomy, 1 in a gunshot wound at the junction of inferior vena cava and right atrium 2 and to remove the blunt objects from the oesophagus) ,4 In the present case this catheter was used for removal of a spherical marble form esophagus with comfortable ease and excellent outcome. A 6-year-old girl was brought to the emergency section of the J.N. Medical College Hospital, A.M.U., Aligarh, within 30minutes of accidental swallowing of marble. She had cough, respiratory distress and complete.dysphagia. The BP was 100/ 60 torr, pulse rate l l0/min and respirations 48/min. After the confirmation of the foreign body (marble) in upper third of the esophagus by chest roentgenogram (Fig. 1). The patient was shifted to the operation theatre, where esophagoscopy'under general anaesthesia was performed. Conventional esophageal forceps were tried, but it was not possible to catch the marble because of its rounded shape and smooth surface. So a Foley catheter, mounted on a wire stretcher, was passed under vision into the esophagus by the side of the marble, so as the deflated bulb of the catheter was distal to it. Gently the esophagoscope was taken out leaving the Foley catheter in position and then the bulb was inflated with 10 ml of saline (Fig. 2) and withdrawn