[A case of severe bronchial mucosal injury caused by iron pill aspiration].

An 84-year-old woman was referred to our hospital with fever and dyspnea. Her arterial oxygen partial pressure was 48.3 Torr. Chest computed tomography (CT) showed a foreign body incarcerated in the right truncus intermedius. Bronchoscopy revealed the incarceration of a dark red foreign body with an elliptical shape in the right truncus intermedius, and bronchoscopic removal was performed. The foreign body was an iron pill. Steroids were administered to prevent local inflammation and granulation of the bronchial mucosa. She recovered and was discharged on day 15. A patient with severe bronchial mucosal injury caused by iron pill aspiration was successfully treated by bronchoscopic removal.