Foreign body in the airway of a premature infant: a fragment of suction catheter revisited

Abstract

Paediatric foreign body in the airway is usually seen in children aged 1-3 years and cause sudden respiratory distress. If the diagnosis is delayed or untreated, it may result in serious morbidity or even mortality. In new-borns, foreign body in the airways is rarely seen and it is usually formula or breast milk. We presented a premature hypotonic infant in need of mechanical ventilation transported to our unit on 49th day for tracheotomy. We identified left pulmonary atelectasis and a plastic tube fragment was removed from the left main bronchus by rigid bronchoscopy. *Correspondence to: Aybüke Yazici, Division of Neonatology, Health Science University, Ankara Children's Hematology and Oncology Research Hospital, Turkey, Tel: +90 312 5969730; Fax: +90 312 3472330; E-mail: dr.a.yazici@ hotmail.com