Okra Pod is a Serious Swallowed Foreign Body

Abstract

Swallowed foreign bodies are common entity in our practice especially in children. Most ingested objects pass smoothly through the gastrointestinal tract or endoscopic ally removed. However, some patients experience undesirable outcomes We reported 3 cases under one year old (1 female, 2 males) brought to our ENT emergency by history of unusual ingested foreign body (Okra-pod); they were presented with severe illness, acute respiratory distress and aspiration pneumonia with respiratory failure in one case; Urgent endoscopic removal was done in all cases and postoperative monitoring was performed in Pediatric Intensive Care. Two cases were managed effectively and followed up until completely cured but dramatically one infant has died due to potentially late diagnosis and respiratory failure. To our knowledge, this foreign body has not been reported before. Okra is considered a possible cause of exogenous lipoid pneumonia as it liberates a considerable amounts of oily substance with subsequent aspiration into the respiratory passages. Early diagnosis, immediate endoscopic removal, appropriate postoperative care and follow up are mandatory in to prevent life-threatening complications, particularly respiratory failure.