Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Nov 16, 2021; 9(32): 9935-9941
Published online Nov 16, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i32.9935
Adult with mass burnt lime aspiration: A case report and literature review
Xin-Yu Li, Hai-Jia Hou, Bing Dai, Wei Tan, Hong-Wen Zhao
Xin-Yu Li, Hai-Jia Hou, Bing Dai, Wei Tan, Hong-Wen Zhao, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Li XY, Hou HJ, Dai B, Tan W and Zhao HW designed the research study; Li XY and Hou HJ analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript; all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to disclose.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hai-Jia Hou, MM, Doctor, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, No. 155 Nanjing North Street, Heping District, Shenyang 110001, Liaoning Province, China. houhaijia880823@126.com
Received: July 19, 2021
Peer-review started: July 19, 2021
First decision: August 19, 2021
Revised: August 28, 2021
Accepted: September 8, 2021
Article in press: September 8, 2021
Published online: November 16, 2021
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Foreign body aspiration mainly occurs in children, which can cause a severe concurrent syndrome and even death without timely treatment. As a rare foreign body, aspiration of lime is seldom reported, and most cases involve a small amount of hydrated lime. Although the symptoms are usually severe, the prognosis is good after suitable treatment. Experience of treatment for lime aspiration is lacking, and this report provides novel evidence for treatment of mass burnt lime aspiration using bronchoscopy.

CASE SUMMARY

We report an adult with a large amount of burnt lime aspiration. Because of delay in clearance of the inhaled lime in the trachea and bronchus at the local hospital, he suffered several severe complications, including complete occlusion of the right primary bronchus, aeropleura, aerodermectasia, pneumomediastinum, secondary infection and hypoxemia at 4 d after injury. After transferring to our department, bronchoscopy was immediately carried out to clear the lime in the major airway, using foreign body forceps, biopsy forceps, puncture needle, and hairbrush. The patient’s condition recovered rapidly and at 3-months’ follow-up, he demonstrated good recovery of the bronchus and lung parenchyma.

CONCLUSION

After mass lime aspiration, flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy is suggested as early as possible, using clamping, flushing or cryotherapy.

Keywords: Burnt lime, Aspiration, Bronchial obstruction, Flexible fiberoptic bronchoscopy, Computed tomography, Case report

Core Tip: Aspiration of lime is seldom reported, especially in adults, and most cases involve small amounts of hydrated lime. We report an adult with a large amount of burnt lime aspiration. Because of delay in clearance of the inhaled lime in the airway, he suffered severe complications. Bronchoscopy was immediately carried out to clear the lime by mechanical methods such as clamping, washing and freezing. The treatment target was to release airway obstruction. After removal of most of the lime, the condition improved rapidly, and follow-up showed good recovery.