Penetrating oesophageal foreign body.

The behaviour of impacted foreign bodies in the Oesophagus is very often unpredictable. Though penetration with subsequent migration into the thyroid gland is an extremely rare event, with only occasional reports in medical literature, this possibility should always be borne in mind because of the likelihood of serious complications like aorto-oesophageal fistula, subctavian-oesophageal fistula and retropharyngeal abscess. The usual presenting features are persistent pain and foreign body sensation with no evidence of the foreign body on converntional oesophagoscopic examination.