Endoscopic removal of an entirely embedded esophageal fishbone

A 65-year-old man was referred to our hospital with a 3-day history of pain in the upper esophagus after eating fish. Subsequent computed tomography (CT) showed a fishbone in the upper esophagus without any injury to the surrounding vessels. Emergency endoscopy was performed under general anesthesia. During the procedure, we tried to remove the fishbone with biopsy forceps through a high-definition gastroscope (GIF-Q260J; Olympus, Tokyo, Japan). However, only congestion and edema of the local esophagus were confirmed and the fishbone could not be found ( Fig. Further evaluation of the location of the fishbone was completed based on the endoscopic findcannot be seen. b Incision of the esophageal mucosa using a hook knife. c Partial exposure of the embedded fishbone. d Extraction of the fishbone using grasping forceps. e The mucosal defect. f The extracted fishbone.