Grill-Cleaning Wire Brush Bristle Ingestion: Case Series and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Case Series, IV.

Wire bristle foreign body: Never in the same place twice

“…3 Subsequent cases have included pediatric and adult patients and noted that ingested bristles were commonly located in the base of the tongue, esophagus, palatine tonsils, parapharyngeal space, vallecula, and in the gastrointestinal tract. 1,4–13…”

“…7 Regardless of the retrieval modality, close to 40% of first attempts at removing the bristle have been unsuccessful and close to 22% have required open neck exploration to remove the foreign bodies. 1 Harlor et al 10 and Mortensen et al 1 have suggested the use of contrasted imaging to localize bristles that have migrated, especially those close to vascular structures in the head and neck. We also believe that a contrasted CT with 1–2 mm cuts better highlights anatomy and is more suited for operative planning.…”

“…Grill-cleaning wire brush bristles are infrequently identified foreign bodies associated with 1698 emergency room visits from 2002–2014 but less than 35 published case reports. 1 , 2 The first report of an ingested wire bristle was in a 19-year-old patient who suffered from eventual esophageal perforation due to foreign body ingestion in 1952. 3 Subsequent cases have included pediatric and adult patients and noted that ingested bristles were commonly located in the base of the tongue, esophagus, palatine tonsils, parapharyngeal space, vallecula, and in the gastrointestinal tract.…”

“…Grill-cleaning wire brush bristles are infrequently identified foreign bodies associated with 1698 emergency room visits from 2002-2014 but less than 35 published case reports. 1…”

“…They reported that initial imaging with lateral neck radiography or evaluation with flexible laryngoscopy was falsely negative in 30% and 47%, respectively. 1 Plain radiographs might be sufficient in children with suspected coin ingestion but computerized tomography (CT) has been shown to have the highest sensitivity when attempting to diagnose small metallic foreign bodies such as wire bristles. 1–3 However, diagnosing a wire bristle foreign body is only half the battle, as extraction of this foreign body can be equally challenging.…”