The inhaled pin inaccessible to the bronchoscope: a management conundrum.

OBJECTIVE

The inhaled sharp foreign body is usually amenable to bronchoscopic extraction. When this fails, management poses a challenge. We present a logical approach to the inhaled pin inaccessible to the bronchoscope.

CASE REPORT

A 12-year-old girl presented to the accident and emergency unit after accidentally inhaling a pin. Multiple attempts with both rigid and flexible bronchoscopy failed to access the pin, which had lodged distally in the anteromedial basal segment of the left lung. Eventually, the pin was extracted at thoracotomy.

CONCLUSION

We discuss the reasons for extracting such pins, as opposed to leaving them in situ, and when to proceed from endoscopy to open surgery. Such knowledge is useful, not only to guide the multidisciplinary team in their combined approach to this unique challenge, but also to explain to the patient the rationale for the proposed treatment protocol.