Accidental Bottle Cap Ingestion in an Adult in a Resource-Limited Setting: A Case Report

Abstract: Foreign body ingestion in adults may become life-threatening depending on the site of impaction and the nature of the object. We report a 53-year-old man who accidentally ingested a bottle top while opening a pressurized reused beverage bottle with his teeth. He presented with drooling of saliva, dysphagia, throat pain, and foreign body sensation. Plain radiographs failed to identify the radiolucent foreign body but excluded airway involvement. Direct laryngoscopy identified the foreign body impacted at the cricopharyngeal opening, and successful removal was achieved using Magill forceps under general anesthesia. The patient recovered without complications. This report illustrates a pragmatic management approach for a directly visualized upper esophageal foreign body in a resource-limited setting. Keywords: foreign body ingestion, bottle cap, cricopharyngeal impaction, direct laryngoscopy, magill forceps, radiolucent foreign body, resource-limited setting, case report