PROLONGED FEVER DUE TO ACUTE PNEUMONIA REVEALING ATRABRONCHIAL FOREIGN BODY IN A 5-YEAR-OLD CHILD

Incidents involving intratracheobronchial foreign bodies (ITFBs) are common in children and can lead to serious long-term complications such as bronchiectasis. Typically, these incidents present with a penetration syndrome following the inhalation of the foreign body. However, there are cases where the foreign body is not immediately detected, and the child may subsequently develop recurrent respiratory infections. A delay in removing the foreign body of more than 7 days after the onset of penetration syndrome can result in these complications. To minimize these risks, early diagnosis is crucial, and diagnostic bronchoscopy should be performed in cases of suspected inhalation, even in the absence of clinical or radiological symptoms. Rigid bronchoscopy remains the only reliable method for confirming the diagnosis and extracting the foreign body. We report the case of a 5-year-old child who presented with acute pneumonia revealing the presence of an ITFB, without any recent penetration syndrome or recurrent respiratory infections. Through this clinical case, our goal is to raise awareness among healthcare professionals about this rare presentation of ITFBs and to promote the adoption of optimized clinical and paraclinical practices to minimize risks.