Current Thoracic Surgery
2025 , Vol 10 , Issue 1
A rare esophageal foreign body found in a patient with mental retardation: safety needle
1Department of Thoracic Surgery, Karadeniz Technical University Faculty of Medicine, Trabzon, Turkey2Department of Thoracic Surgery, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Faculty of Medicine, Rize, Tu DOI : 10.26663/cts.2025.003 Viewed : 27 - Downloaded : 13 Esophageal foreign bodies are emergency cases mostly involving intellectually disabled individuals. An 18-year-old intellectually disabled female patient presented to our clinic complaining about irritability, dysphagia and hypersalivation. Her posteroanterior chest x-ray showed an opacity caused by a safety needle. In her rigid esophagoscopy, a safety needle with an open point was seen, which was localized in the first constriction of her oesophagus. The open sharp point of the safety needle was pulled towards the lumen, held with forceps, bent from its tip towards the clasp, and the pin was removed without any complications. The patient was allowed oral intake of food next day and was discharged without any problems. Esophageal foreign bodies seen in patients with mental retardation may be atypical non-food foreign bodies. Careful endoscopic removal of particularly sharp-pointed objects such as safety needle will prevent complications. Keywords : foreign body, esophagus, rigid esophagoscopy