Unusual presentation of laryngeal foreign bodies — report of two rare cases

Aspiration of a foreign body into the respiratory tract is a common and serious problem in childhood but is rare in adults. Two interesting cases in which the diagnosis of foreign body in the larynx was not suspected preoperatively are being reported. A three and half year old female child was diagnosed as a case of bronchitis and was later found to have a metallic spring in the supraglottic region which was removed by direct laryngoscopy under general anesthesia. The other patient, a 32-year-old male, was diagnosed to have a fibrous lesion in the larynx one year previously, and on laryngoscopy a vegetable, spiculated foreign body was found after excising the fibrous lesion on the left false cord. Both the cases are symptom free 18 months after endoscopy.