Removal of an inhaled stoma button distal to a reactionary tracheal stenosis: a difficult airway case

Abstract

We present the complex and rare case of an inhaled stoma button causing proximal tracheal stenosis in a laryngectomy patient. The patient was unaware he had inhaled his button and presented with increasing shortness of breath and noisy breathing. In this case we discuss the challenging management of the stenotic tracheal segment above the impacted stoma button and the surgical approach to this difficult airway. The distal foreign body was safely removed using rigid bronchoscopy and balloon dilatation. This difficult airway required multidisciplinary input from the ENT, cardiothoracic and anaesthetic teams.

An unusual tracheal foreign body in a middle-aged male with a 15-year history of coal use: a case report

“…Third, the patient’s tracheal wall may have been unknowingly pierced with an object such as bone, wood or coal filings that lodged itself in the trachea and acted as a support point for coal dust accumulation. Several previous studies have reported that various foreign bodies, including plastic discs and bones, have entered the trachea without the patients having any recollection of inhaling them [ 4 – 6 ]. As a result of the inhaled coal dust and gradual accumulation of tracheal secretions, an irregular coal foreign body formed.…”