Thought to be cancer, fish bone stuck in neck

A 17-year-old boy, seeing a large swelling in his neck, went to the Ho Chi Minh City Oncology Hospital for examination. The doctor directed him to the Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital because he suspected a foreign object in his neck.

The patient had difficulty swallowing after a party 6 months ago. A medical examination in Kien Giang did not detect any foreign objects. After that, the patient did not have much pain in swallowing and was able to eat and drink. He only had pain and swelling in his lower chin recently.

On August 14, Dr. Le Tran Quang Minh, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital, said this was a very rare case of fish bone stuck in the throat because the foreign object from the digestive tract moved to the neck area, causing complications with an abscess of about 3 cm.

The surgeons opened the floor of the mouth, removed about 5 ml of pus and the foreign object, which was a fish bone. After the surgery, the patient's discomfort decreased, and the surgical wound quickly dried.

"I didn't know I had a fish bone stuck in my throat. At that time, I just had a fever and had trouble swallowing, but no illness was found. This time I know the cause, and luckily it's not cancer," the patient said.

Dr. Nguyen Tuong Duc, Deputy Head of Pediatrics and General Department, said that there were many difficulties in diagnosis as well as surgery because the patient himself did not know that he had a fish bone stuck in his throat. The bone fragment had been in his body for a long time and had broken into two pieces. After removing the fish bone, the doctor discovered that the size was shorter than the image on the CT scan, so he continued to search and remove the remaining piece.

According to doctors, foreign bodies in the digestive tract, especially fish bones, can move and cause many complications such as esophageal perforation, mediastinitis, vascular complications, neck abscesses, etc. In the world , the rate of foreign bodies in the digestive tract "migrating" to the neck is quite rare. The neck has large blood vessels, and if a fish bone accidentally penetrates an artery on the way to move, causing an artery rupture, it will be dangerous.

Doctors recommend that when there are signs of fish bone stuck in the throat such as painful swallowing, difficulty swallowing, patients should see a specialist as soon as possible for timely detection and treatment.

Le Phuong

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