J Rhinol.  2023 Mar;30(1):45-47. 10.18787/jr.2023.00007.

Impacted Foreign Body in the Anterior Nasal Cavity Presenting With Tooth Pain

• Choi JH
• Kim KS
• Min HJ

• KMID: 2540858
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.18787/jr.2023.00007

Abstract

Foreign bodies pose a diagnostic challenge to clinicians, and nasal foreign bodies have the potential to lead to significant morbidity. Although foreign bodies in the nasal cavity are a commonly encountered problem in pediatric patients, a foreign body in the nasal cavity not associated with a trauma history is rare in adults. We recently experienced a 35-year-old man who presented with a foreign body in his right nasal cavity and anterior tooth pain. He was not sure what the material was, and we were not able to confirm the material type preoperatively. However, we found that a very large and thick material was impacted and totally obstructed the right anterior nasal cavity. We surgically removed it as a bone block and confirmed postoperatively that the material was glass. This case provided several lessons, and we would like to share our experience.

Keyword

Foreign body; Adult; Glass; Toothache; Nasal cavity

Figure

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  Fig. 1. Endoscopic and imaging findings of the foreign body before surgery. A: Nasal endoscopy showing a dark-colored hard material that totally obstructed the patient’s right nasal cavity. B: Lateral paranasal sinus (PNS) X-ray demonstrating a foreign body measuring approximately 2.5 cm×2.3 cm in the right anterior nasal cavity. C: Coronal PNS computed tomography demonstrating high-density foreign body measuring 2.7 cm×2.2 cm×1.6 cm.

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  Fig. 2. Glass foreign body removed from the patient’s anterior nasal cavity.

Reference

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