IntroductionForeign body aspiration (FBA) is common at both extremes of age and is a potentially life-threatening event(1). Advanced age, alcohol intoxication, psychiatric illness, seizure disorders, stroke, neuromuscular disorders, sedative or hypnotic drugs, and chronic debilitating conditions predispose the elderly to FBA(2). Common foreign bodies (FBs) aspirated include metallic objects, organic substances, dentures, chicken or fish bones, and peas(3). FBA in the elderly poses a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge due to several factors. These include the masking of respiratory symptoms post-aspiration, atypical imaging findings, the patient’s inability to recall the aspiration event, and the challenges encountered during bronchoscopy(4). FBA usually follows a choking event, often during feeding. The patient might present with dyspnea, hemoptysis, cough, a fall in oxygen saturation, anxiety, etc.(5). The signs and symptoms depend on the size of the foreign body and the level of obstruction. Small objects lodged in distal airways seldom produce acute symptoms, while the opposite is true for larger FBs lodged in larger airways. Stridor is present if FBs are lodged in trachea(6). FBA results in collapse/hyperinflation of lungs aerated by the airway. If there is chronic obstruction, obstructive pneumonia, bronchiectasis, and lung abscess can develop(2). FBs generally lodge in the right middle and lower lobe bronchi(4). FBA causing acute airway obstruction and respiratory failure requiring urgent intervention.
