Foreign bodies of pharynx

Foreign bodies of the pharynx , as a rule, get with food (fish bones, husks from cereals, pieces of wood, etc.), less often stuck fragments of dentures, pins, nails (from tailors, shoemakers). With insufficient chewing and hasty swallowing, large chunks of food can become stuck above the esophagus, close the entrance to the larynx and cause asphyxia. Contribute to getting foreign bodies talking, laughing while eating. Most often acute foreign bodies get stuck in the area of ​​throat, tonsils and root of the tongue, less often in other parts of the pharynx.

Symptoms, course. Sensation of something stranger in the throat, pain and difficulty in swallowing. With large foreign bodies, speech and breathing are disturbed. With prolonged stay of a foreign body, an inflammatory process develops, sometimes with the formation of phlegmon.

The diagnosis is made on the basis of examination of the pharynx, palpation (small, deeply penetrated foreign bodies) and X-ray examination (metal objects). Often, patients complain of a foreign body, and when examining the pharynx, only traumas from a swallowed object are visible. Scratches and abrasions of the mucosa can long simulate the presence of a foreign body.

Treatment. Foreign bodies are removed with cranked forceps or forceps.