Christmas surprise: The unnoticed journey of a needle—from bronchus to intestine

We report on a 14-year-old Arabian girl who suddenly developed coughing after having aspirated a needle used for fixing her headscarf. The chest X-ray showed the needle located in the right main bronchus. However, subsequent flexible bronchoscopy could not detect any foreign body. A further X-ray of the abdomen showed the needle now behind the diaphragm. Gastro-oesophageal endoscopy was also uneventful. On the third day, the needle was excreted naturally. Astonishingly, this journey of the wandering needle from bronchus to intestine was not realised by the patient at any time. Our case highlights that children and adolescents should be warned repeatedly about the risks of putting needles between their teeth. It also reminds the physician to diagnose aspirated foreign bodies as early as possible to prevent wandering and migrating, which may induce new risks and unnecessary diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.