Headscarf pin, a sharp foreign body aspiration with particular clinical characteristics

• Published in: European archives of oto-rhino-laryngology 2010-12, Vol.267 (12), p.1957-1962
• Main Authors: Hamad, Abdel-Mohsen M., Elmistekawy, Elsayed M., Ragab, Sameh M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age Factors; Biological and medical sciences; Bronchi; Bronchoscopy; Child; Cohort Studies; Endoscopy; Female; Foreign Bodies - diagnosis; Foreign Bodies - etiology; Foreign Bodies - therapy; Head and Neck Surgery; Humans; Investigative techniques, diagnostic techniques (general aspects); Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Miscellaneous; Neurosurgery; Otorhinolaryngology; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Respiratory Aspiration - diagnosis; Respiratory Aspiration - etiology; Respiratory Aspiration - therapy; Retrospective Studies; Risk Factors; Sex Factors; Thoracotomy; Trachea; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0937-4477; 1434-4726
• DOI: 10.1007/s00405-010-1295-y

The process of wearing head scarf is very complex; girls used to hold a number of pins in the mouth and utilize them one by one to fix the scarf. Loss of concentration results in pin aspiration. We presented our experience with scarf pin aspiration and discussed the unique clinical characteristics of this problem. We reviewed the records of 73 patients who underwent bronchoscopy for scarf pin inhalation during the period from January 1995 to May 2009. The following data were collected, history of aspiration, time lag before presentation, symptoms and signs, radiological findings, bronchoscopic findings, number of repeated bronchoscopy, complications, need for thoracotomy and time of discharge. All patients were female, mean age 13.4 years. The time lag before admission was