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Migrating pharyngeal foreign bodies: a series of four cases of saw-toothed fish bones

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Abstract

Pharyngeal foreign bodies are common problems seen at emergency rooms or ENT outpatient clinics, and fish bones are the most common foreign bodies encountered in East Asia and in Korea. One of the rare complications of a swallowed sharp fish bone is its migration from the site of entry into the subcutaneous tissues of the neck. We present four unusual cases of ingested fish bones that migrated out of the upper digestive tract to the neck. In the first case, this caused a recurrent deep neck infection for 2 years; in the second case, there was penetration of the facial artery; in the third case, there was a hematoma of the floor of the mouth; in the fourth case, there was a retropharyngeal abscess.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otolaryngology, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Sung Min Chung, Han Su Kim & Eun Hee Park

  2. 911-1 MokDong, Seoul, Seoul, South Korea

    Han Su Kim

Authors
  1. Sung Min Chung
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  2. Han Su Kim
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  3. Eun Hee Park
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Correspondence to Han Su Kim.

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Chung, S.M., Kim, H.S. & Park, E.H. Migrating pharyngeal foreign bodies: a series of four cases of saw-toothed fish bones. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol 265, 1125–1129 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-007-0572-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00405-007-0572-x

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