Esophageal obstruction after incomplete removal of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube

This two-year-old boy presented with a two-day history of vomiting and fever. He was diagnosed with acute otitis media four days before this incident. Repeated questioning revealed removal of a percutaneous enterostomy tube two weeks earlier with failure to pass the internal bumper in his stool. The child was in no distress, except for repeated emesis and drooling. A chest x-ray revealed a foreign body in the esophagus, and the patient underwent removal of the percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy plastic bumper by endoscopy without incident.