Oesophageal Foreign Body : A Toddler with Recurrent Stridor

Stridor is not an uncommon complaint among the paediatric population presented to the Emergency Department. It is the cardinal sign of impending total airway obstruction. One of the obstructions can be due to a foreign body (FB) lodged in the airway. We encountered one toddler boy who presented with recurrent stridor and was mistakenly treated as croup, in which the initial radiographs and flexible nasopharyngoscopy were unremarkable. A piece of rigid round aluminium foil found within the oesophagus causes tracheal narrowing and inspiratory stridor. High clinical suspicion of the treating physician is needed for the diagnosis. Timely management of FB impaction remains crucial.