Earring aspiration in a toddler: A case report

Abstract

Aspiration of foreign body is not an uncommon life-threatening emergency in pediatric practice. Objects that are commonly aspirated include nuts, beans, toys, and in very rare instances jewelries among others. This is a 2 year old female toddler who presented in our facility on account of sudden onset of cough which became recurrent with associated difficulty with breathing of one month duration. Symptoms were first observed immediately after she was noticed to have aspirated a piece of her rigid earrings that was left on a table at home. She had chest x-ray that showed evidence of an opaque foreign body in the left main bronchus for which she had fluoroscopy guided bronchoscopy with removal of a rigid metallic earring. The patient was subsequently discharged on the second day post-operation. Earring aspiration is uncommon in children, but when it occurs it could result in grave consequences. Parents and guardians should suspect possibility of such aspiration if there is a missing earring belonging to a child who has sudden onset of respiratory difficulty.