Unrecognized foreign body in an elderly patient

Although aerodigestive foreign bodies are commonly seen in the paediatric age group, adults and elderly patients are not exempt from this problem. Respiratory tract foreign bodies are usually seen in extremes of ages and may not be discovered immediately, either due to the inability of the patients to express their symptoms, absence of protective airway reflexes or altered level of consciousness. A high index of suspicion is a must to discover and diagnose these cases. Here we report a unique case of a 68 year old man with a normal level of consciousness who was suffering from recurrent attacks of breathlessness [for almost 2 months] but who was treated as a case of bronchial asthma exacerbation because the patient was a known asthmatic. Following admission and investigation for stridor, his problem was found to be due to a foreign body lodged in the larynx