Abstract

This paper presents a case of a wooden foreign body (tooth pick) that pierced through the larynx and thyroid gland, resulting in a painful swelling in a 4-month-old (16kg) intact male boerboel dog presented at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital (VTH), University of Ibadan (UI), Nigeria. The owner had noticed the dog in distress, coughing and vomiting a short moment after a meal. He also noticed a rapidly growing bulge ventral to the larynx. A fine needle aspiration biopsy revealed evidence of a peri glandular (thyroid) haematoma. A dorsoventral and lateral radiograph of the head and neck showed a bulgy area of fluid opacity with no evidence a foreign body. However, an exploration of the upper airways under propofol anaesthesia revealed a wooden foreign body penetrating the larynx which was extracted with long forceps. The implication of toothpick foreign bodies to pets’ health and the need for clinicians to warn pet owners of the danger they pose form the basis of this report.

Key words: foreign body, laryngeal, thyroid, wooden toothpick