Foreign Body Ingestion (4 of 7)

Foreign body ingestion endoscopic removal. Foreign body ingestion often requires endoscopic removal, but the majority of the foreign body may pass through the whole gut without creating any problem to the patient. However, any foreign body which is large and impacted, any sharp foreign body should be removed immediately. Foreign bodies less than 2.5cm in diameter usually pass through gastrointestinal tract without difficulty. The common sites of impaction of foreign body in esophagus are postcricoid region, level of aortic arch, left main bronchus and the diaphragm. But there is one more site of impaction especially in cases of flat objects like coin which is at level of T1 i.e., thoracic inlet. Rarely foreign body not large in size may be impacted in esophagus in cases of strictures, or smooth muscle spasm.