Inhaled Foreign Body
Publication Date: 2012-03-13
History
4 month old male Jack Russell Terrier who is coughing.
3 puppies were placed in a stall on cedar wood shavings to keep them warm. When the owner returned home that evening, she noticed that this puppy was wheezing and coughing. A chewed collar was found in the shavings.
4 images
Findings
On radiographs of the thorax, there is an alveolar pulmonary pattern in the left cranial, and right middle lung lobes, with patchy increased opacity in the remaining lobes. The trachea is narrowed at the thoracic inlet, with an apparent linear intraluminal opacity. There is dilation of the pharynx with air, and there is gas within the esophagus and gastrointestinal tract.
DDX
The tracheal narrowing and intraluminal opacity may indicate edema, mucus, or foreign material in this region. There is secondary upper airway obstruction as indicated by the dilated pharynx and aerophagia. The alveolar pattern is due to bronchopneumonia.
Diagnosis
Endoscopy was performed, and a 7 inch plant foreign body was removed from the main stem bronchus of the left caudal lung lobe. The trachea was inflamed, and the bronchoalveolar lavage showed moderate to marked, septic, suppurative inflammation and hemorrhage, with small numbers of Pasteurella and Mycoplasma cultured. The patient improved on antibiotic therapy and supportive care and was discharged.
