Inhalation of a Foreign Body when Using a Dosed Aerosol

Asthmatics often use inhalation devices and many precautions are often neglected such as closing the nozzle after use. We report the observation of a 54-year-old patient who, after inhaling a bronchodilator to calm an asthma attack, inhaled a sharp metal pin inserted into the nozzle of the inhalation device. For eight years the patient presented episodes of recurrent pulmonary diseases treated with antibiotic therapy and the presence of a strangolingendobronchial body was never mentioned. Until it develops an abscess of the lung, bronchial fibroscopy has aloror objective the foreign body whose extraction necessitated a thoracotomy. This case illustrates the need to always re-cap the nozzle of the inhalation device after use. A simple gesture that will avoid this type of incident with sometimes dramatic complications requiring surgery in our patient’s case.