An elderly lady was admitted to the hospital with severe dysphagia after ingesting a large fruit seed. She underwent urgent esophagoscopy under general anesthesia to remove the impacted seed. The procedure was successful and the seed was removed, allowing the patient to recover smoothly. The impaction of food or foreign objects in the esophagus is more common in elderly women, especially over age 76, and can often require endoscopy or surgery for removal. Previous esophageal strictures may increase the risk of recurrence.

1. ‫الرحيم‬ ‫الرحمن‬ ‫هللا‬ ‫بسم‬
An Elderly Lady with a
Big Fruit Seed in the
Esophagus
Prof. Abdulsalam Y Taha
College of Medicine
University of Sulaimani
2022 1

2. The Case
 An elderly lady was admitted to
Sulaymaniyah Teaching Hospital,
Sulaymaniyah, Iraq because of severe
dysphagia a few hours following the
ingestion of a fruit seed. She was urgently
subjected to rigid esophagoscopy under
general anesthesia (GA) for removal of the
seed. A big fruit seed was successfully
removed and the patient had a smooth
recovery thereafter.
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6. Comment
 “The impaction of food boluses in the
esophagus is significantly higher in
women, usually after 76 years of age.
There is a positive correlation between
the presence of esophageal stricture and
recurrence of food bolus impaction.
Esophagoscopy with rigid esophagoscope
is a reliable method for the extraction of
a bolus of food from the esophagus in
elderly patients” [1].
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7. Comment…
 Amarjothi et al reported on a 40-years
old female patient who presented 2
days following ingestion of a Mango
seed. The seed was impacted in the
cervical esophagus. Endoscopy failed to
retrieve the seed, therefore, cervical
esophagotomy was necessary for seed
removal. There was no postoperative
complication with a normal
gastrograffin swallow on postoperative
day 7 [2].
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8. Bibliography
[1] Mitrović SM, Karan S, Karan JV, Vucinić P.
Oesophageal food bolus impaction in elderly
people. Med Pregl. 2014 Jan-Feb;67(1-2):33-7.
PMID: 24964566.
[2] Amarjothi JMV, Jesudason J, Ramasamy V,
Babu OLN (2018) Role of Cervical
Oesophagomyotomy for Retrieval of Impacted
Foreign Bodies in the Oesophagus. J Clin Case
Rep 8: 1173. doi: 10.4172/2165-7920.10001173
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