Clinical Outcome in Patients with Negative Rigid Oesophagoscopy for Suspected Foreign Body Ingestion.

Dear Editor, Foreign body (FB) ingestion, fi shbones in particular, is commonly encountered in the emergency setting in Singapore.1,2 While most are removed in the clinic, small percentages with oesophageal FBs require removal under general anaesthesia. Prompt removal avoids potential lethal complications like mediastinitis and aorto-oesophageal fi stula.3-6 While imaging modalities like computed tomography (CT) have been instrumental in selecting patients for rigid oesophagoscopy, false-positive results are still evident, translating to unnecessary rigid oesophagoscopy. However, the prevalence and reasons of negative rigid oesophagoscopy are not well-reported. This study aims to address the prevalence and reasons of negative rigid oesophagoscopy and evaluate the clinical outcomes of these patients.