Foreign body esophagus: when endoscopic removal fails….

Aspiration or ingestion of a foreign body has frequently been reported in the pediatric and in the adult population. Among many foreign bodies to be ingested, artificial denture is one to be impacted in the esophagus, especially among the elderly. Radiolucency of dental prosthesis complicates early diagnosis of an impacted or ingested dental prosthesis. Rigid and flexible esophagoscopes have been used to retrieve the foreign body from the esophagus but the need for open surgery to remove the foreign body as a rescue procedure to endoscopy or the primary procedure has not been well defined. Here we report a case of impacted foreign body esophagus which was managed primarily by surgery and another case where surgery was performed after trials of endoscopic approach had failed.