Course: Pediatric Patient With Persistent Postoperative Fevers After Esophageal Foreign Body Removal
CME Credits: 1.00
Released: 2023-10-26
A healthy patient in their teens presented to the emergency department with high-grade fever (38.7 °C), neck pain, and a foreign body sensation in the throat after eating chicken 3 days prior. Laboratory investigations demonstrated an elevated leukocyte count (22,500/µL; to convert to ×109/L, multiply by 0.001). Lateral soft tissue radiography showed a radio-opaque foreign body at the level of C6. Computed tomography (CT) scan confirmed a 2-cm radio-opaque osseous foreign body at the level of the cricopharyngeus muscle with signs of esophageal perforation, including air leak tracking toward the left lobe of the thyroid gland (, A and B). The patient was brought to the operating room, and the esophageal foreign body was successfully removed. Postoperatively, the patient continued to become febrile despite intravenous antibiotic therapy. A repeated CT scan of the neck and chest was done (, C).
Educational Objective
Based on this clinical scenario and the accompanying image, understand how to arrive at a correct diagnosis.
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