Foreign bodies (crabshell) in the bronchus - Report of two cases

Two cases of unusual foreign bodies (crabell) in the bronchus are reported.The first patient was a 29-year-old male who aspirated a crabshell into the bron-chus when he was eating a crableg. Bronchoscopy was carried out but removal of the foreign body was difficult as the crabshell had many spikes which stuck into the wall of the bronchus.The second patient was a 51-year-old male who aspirated a crabshell into the bronchus in the same way. In this case, after removing some of the stuck spikes, we could easily take out the remaining fragment.Some clinical features of this bronchial foreign body (crabshell) and technique of removal are discussed.