Unexpected Esophageal Impaction of a Chicken Bone

An old-age healthy woman visited the emergency department with a complaint of dysphasia and a sensation of “food sticking” in her throat for hours after dinner. On presentation, the patient appeared afebrile and normotensive. The neck was soft, without tenderness or erythematosus change in the skin. A soft-tissue lateral neck radiograph showed a linear radiopaque density (Figure 1A), anterior to the C7 vertebra, and mild prevertebral soft-tissue swelling. Under the impression of foreign body impaction, a gastroenterologist was consulted for endoscopic retrieval of the foreign body, which was found in the upper cervical esophagus near the cricopharyngeus muscle (Figure 1B). The retrieved foreign body was a fragment of chicken bone (Figure 1C), ingested by the patient during a meal. The patient’s symptoms were relieved immediately by the procedure and she was followed up in the clinic.