Prawn rostrum, a rare migratory esophageal foreign body penetrating the trachea

Abstract

Migration of foreign bodies (FB) is rare. Most FB reported in the literature are fish bones that are eventually found in the lateral soft tissue of the neck and thyroid glands. Here we report a 38-year-old female who accidently swallowed a prawn rostrum that later migrated through the esophagus and partially penetrated the trachea. The tracheal body was removed via endoscopy, but the remainder of the rostrum remained embedded in the deep soft tissue of the neck. Ultimately, the FB was successfully removed by neck exploration under intraoperative computed tomography (CT) guidance.

Keywords

• Prawn rostrum
• Foreign body
• Penetrating trachea