Affiliations 

  • 1 Senior Consultant Emergency Physician & ED Critical Care, Resuscitation & Emergency Critical Care Unit, Trauma & Emergency Department, Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia. Electronic address: adiosman151072@gmail.com
  • 2 Emergency Physician & ED Critical Care, Resuscitation & Emergency Critical Care Unit, Trauma & Emergency Department, Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia; Trauma & Emergency Department, Tuanku Ja'afar Hospital, Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
  • 3 Emergency Physician & ED Critical Care, Resuscitation & Emergency Critical Care Unit, Trauma & Emergency Department, Hospital Raja Permaisuri Bainun, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
  • 4 Emergency Physician & ED Critical Care, Trauma & Emergency Department, Hospital Sultanah Aminah, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
  • 5 Consultant Emergency Medicine & Consultant Medical Intensive Care Unit Hamad General Hospital, Doha, Qatar
  • 6 Consultant Intensivist & Consultant Emergency Physician, Chief, Department of Intensive Care, Ng Teng Fong Hospital, Singapore
Am J Emerg Med, 2022 Mar;53:23-28.
PMID: 34968971 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajem.2021.12.027

Abstract

As foreign body airway obstruction (FBAO) can be life-threatening, it has to be promptly diagnosed and treated. We report a case series of three patients presenting to the emergency department with cardiac arrest due to FBAO. In each case, ventilation was difficult due to high airway resistance. As FBAO was suspected, the emergency physician did a prompt flexible bronchoscopy to confirm the diagnosis and retrieve the foreign body. Flexible bronchoscopy is an important diagnostic and therapeutic tool for emergency airway management, and is a relatively safe procedure if performed by a trained personnel. The life-saving benefits of bronchoscopy outweigh the small risks of complications such as bleeding, desaturation and pneumothorax. In the three cases, the removal of the obstructing material led to immediate improvements in oxygenation and ventilation. The patients had return of spontaneous circulation after cardiopulmonary resuscitation and definite airway control.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.