Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2012; 60(02): 172-174
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1270947
Case Report
Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.

A Wristwatch in the Esophagus Associated with Esophageal Perforation: Report of an Intriguing Case

W. Lee
1   Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, School of Medicine, Konkuk University Chungju Hospital, Chungju-si, Republic of Korea
,
Y. Kim
1   Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, School of Medicine, Konkuk University Chungju Hospital, Chungju-si, Republic of Korea
,
H. Chee
2   Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, School of Medicine, Konkuk University Seoul Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
,
S. Lee
2   Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, School of Medicine, Konkuk University Seoul Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea
,
H. Jung
3   Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Konkuk University Chungju Hospital, Chungju-si, Republic of Korea
,
S. Ki
4   Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Konkuk University Chungju Hospital, Chungju-si, Republic of Korea
› Author Affiliations
Further Information

Publication History

01 November 2010
31 December 2010

03 February 2011

Publication Date:
07 April 2011 (online)

Abstract

Foreign bodies in the esophagus are commonly seen in emergency medicine. We report here on a very rare case of a working wristwatch in the esophagus, which was successfully extracted by surgical intervention along with primary repair of the perforated cervical esophagus through a transcervical incision. This watch was impacted for 4 days in the cervical esophagus of an adult schizophrenic patient and resulted in cervical esophageal perforation associated with acute deep neck infection.