Uvula Strangulation: A Rare Case of Hair Thread Tourniquet Syndrome

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Author Info

Joseph Stansfield J Coey O Mirza S Loughran

Corresponding Author

Joseph Stansfield
ENT Department, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, Manchester, United Kingdom

A B S T R A C T

Hair thread tourniquet syndrome is a rare but previously well-documented presentation. It is described as circumferential strangulation of distal or multiple distal appendages, which can lead to tissue ischaemia and eventually necrosis without prompt treatment. Despite the characteristic presentation and potential for serious complications, many healthcare professionals remain unaware of hair tourniquet syndrome and the need for urgent management. We present the case of a 9-month-old infant who presented to the emergency department. The parent noted a long hair emanating from the mouth but on attempts to remove it was unable to do so. The child was otherwise stable. Examination on the oral cavity revealed the hair strand tightly wrapped around an oedematous and congested uvula. Attempts to remove the ligature in the emergency department were unsuccessful and a subsequent referral to otolaryngology was made. A decision was made to take the child to the operating theatre, where the ligature was successfully removed with the distal uvula remaining viable.

Article Info

Article Type

Case Report

Publication history

Received: Mon 10, Aug 2020
Accepted: Mon 24, Aug 2020
Published: Fri 04, Sep 2020

Copyright

© 2023 Joseph Stansfield. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Hosting by Science Repository.
DOI: 10.31487/j.IJSCR.2020.03.10