Christmas decorations may become aerodigestive foreign bodies

Summary 

We present two cases of foreign body aspiration that occurred during the 2004–2005 Christmas season. In one 8-month-old boy, the hardware from a Christmas tree ornament became a supraglottic foreign body. In another 10-month-old boy, a metallic sticker in the shape of a Christmas tree traveled from the glottis to the nasopharynx and back to the glottis. The winter holidays are a time when children may have less supervision and greater exposure to potential aerodigestive foreign bodies. It is especially important that parents are vigilant and that physicians are perceptive of the symptoms of foreign body aspiration, especially during the holiday season.

Keywords: Foreign body aspiration, Laryngeal foreign body, Christmas, Stridor, Holidays, Upper airway obstruction