Light-emitting diode bulb aspiration in a Nigerian child: A case report

Abstract

We report a 7-year-old girl who suddenly developed dyspnea, which was persistent, progressive, and severe with associated stridor and hoarseness following the aspiration of a light-emitting diode (LED) bulb that she held in her mouth while playing with her friend. Plain radiograph soft-tissue neck revealed a U-shaped radiopaque object in the glottis. An otolaryngologist extracted the LED bulb from the glottis through direct laryngoscopy under inhalational anesthetic agents without intubation. She was treated with analgesics and antibiotics and admitted into the ward for observation for 24 h, following which she was discharged home in satisfactory condition. Globally, there is a paucity of the literature on LED bulb aspiration, and the index case is the first documented in our center; hence, it is an addition to the body of the literature. Therefore, we strongly recommend that the differential diagnoses of a wire-like foreign body in the airway radiographs should include an LED bulb.