A Rare Case of Cocklebur Foreign Body in the Larynx

Cureus. 2024 Oct 24;16(10):e72327. doi: 10.7759/cureus.72327. eCollection 2024 Oct.

Abstract

Plant foreign matter in the larynx is rare. Only three cases of a cocklebur foreign body in the larynx have been previously reported. A 55-year-old man accidentally swallowed cocklebur fruit. The cocklebur fruit attached to the front of the glottis. The patient had a strong sore throat and a feeling of a foreign body. Considering that removal was difficult at the nearest emergency outpatient clinic because of the strong adhesion and the patient's cough reflex, general anesthesia was induced by intravenous anesthetics and muscle relaxants, the larynx was expanded with McGrath's laryngeal forceps, and the foreign body was removed using Magill forceps. Granulation and erosion of the larynx persisted. Two weeks later, the laryngeal mucosa normalized, and the patient was cured completely. The International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation International Consensus recently recommended the use of Magill forceps for airway foreign body removal in 2020. In this case, Magill forceps were able to grasp the entire fruit without leaving hard spines and were useful in removing the foreign body.

Keywords: cocklebur; foreign body; larynx; plant foreign matter; xanthium strumarium.

Publication types

  • Case Reports