Chronic Cough in a Postpneumonectomy Patient

An Unusual Iatrogenic Foreign Body (Surgical Gauze) in the Trachea

“…There are six large trials reported and the majority of the cases were brought about by aspiration and they were generally identified at the time of associated dental or medical maneuvers [7,8,9,10,11,12]. However, cases of nonaspirated endobronchial FBs have been reported after thoracotomy, lung volume reduction surgery or trauma [1,2,3,4,5], even 30 years after the surgical procedure [1]. On the basis of these reports, we can speculate that, even if rarely, any FB can migrate through the lung parenchyma or the tracheobronchial wall, irrespectively of the type of operation, and that the excretion of an FB is a bioresponse of the human body.…”

“…Other mechanisms, such as transluminal migration of the FB from other locations through the tracheobronchial wall, are a very exceptional phenomenon. The rare cases of endobronchial migration of FB described in the literature generally concern suture material or metallic clips after thoracic surgery [1,2,3,4], even though one case of spontaneous expectoration of a retained intrathoracic bullet [5] and one case of transluminal migration of a surgical gauze into the trachea after mediastinoscopy have also been reported [6]. …”