Abstract

We present a case of a 34-years old man with underlying mental retardation who presented with incarcerated esophageal foreign body. The patient was referred to a tertiary center in which rigid esophagoscopy was done, confirming the presence of the foreign body. Attempt at removing it was unsuccessful and therefore we proceeded with cervical esophagotomy. Unfortunately, patient developed iatrogenic unilateral right vocal cord adduction paralysis post operatively. He was discharged home with Ryle’s Tube. Subsequent follow up at 1 month showed improvement in voice quality in which FNPLS showed a compensated left vocal cord leaving no phonation gap, and subsequent follow up were unremarkable. We concluded that cervical esophagotomy like any other surgical procedures which comes with risk of complication is relatively a safe method to remove an incarcerated esophageal foreign body when means of endoscopic removal failed.

Key words: Incarcerated foreign body, esophagotomy, vocal cord palsy