A 20-month-old girl was admitted to the hospital with irritability, painful swallowing, drooling, and shortness of breath after ingesting a foreign body. An X-ray showed a metallic object in her neck pushing her trachea to the left, located in her hypopharynx. Under inhalational anesthesia, doctors performed direct laryngoscopy and removed a large hair clipper from her esophagus using forceps. After a few hours of observation, she was discharged in good health.

1. ‫الرحيم‬ ‫الرحمن‬ ‫هللا‬ ‫بسم‬
Hair Clipper in the
Upper Esophagus
Prof. Abdulsalam Y Taha
College of Medicine
University of Sulaimani
2022

2. The Case
 A 20-months old girl was
admitted to Sulaymaniyah
Teaching Hospital, Sulaymaniyah,
Iraq because of suspicion of
ingestion of a foreign body (FB).
She presented with irritability,
painful dysphagia, drooling of
saliva from the mouth and
shortness of breath.

4. X-ray of the Neck and Chest
 There was a strange metallic
FB in the region of the neck
pushing the trachea to the left
side, most likely located in the
region of the hypopharynx.

7. Management
 As she was already fasting, she
was given inhalational
anesthesia via a mask. Direct
laryngoscopy was performed
and the FB (a big hair clipper)
was grasped and removed with
a Megill forceps.

11. The Outcome
 After a few hours, she was
discharged home in a good
health and allowed feeding by
mouth.