A 16-year-old boy went to the doctor recently with a strange complaint: whenever he blew his nose, a pungent and unpleasant smell filled the room.
The boy first sought medical attention at age 15, after several years of congestion and a lack of smell. Aside from these symptoms – and some allergies – he was perfectly healthy, had no signs of tonsillitis or other disorders, and did not drink or smoke.
The team performed nasal endoscopy on the patient, finding no signs of any concern, such as masses or injuries. With no obvious cause, he was sent away with nasal rinse, intranasal steroid spray and antihistamines, and told to return in 4-6 weeks, doctors write in the newspaper. Otorhinolaryngology JAMA – Head and Neck Surgery.
He didn’t show up. A year later, when he returned, it was with a new symptom: the fetid odor that came out of his nose when he blew.
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Despite the smell of his nose, he reported no bad breath. A computed tomography was performed, in which a small 9mm “spherical structure” was found lodged in his nasal cavity. Around the sphere were calcium deposits that can be caused by chronic inflammation, necrosis or scarring, an indication that the structure was a foreign body.
He was taken to have the object removed. After a gentle suction, the area began to bleed, before the cause of its problems finally came up: a small metal bullet from a BB gun. After a conversation with the family, they discovered that he had been shot in the nose when he was 8 or 9 years old, and has been stuck there ever since, causing the smell.
“The foreign body blocks the natural drainage pathways in the nose, so there is an accumulation of mucus, inhaled residues and bacteria,” co-author Dylan Z. Erwin, medical student at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio, told Live Science.
As he did not have any symptoms at the time, the family did not care and believed that the problems at the age of 15 were unrelated. Healthy tissue grew over the compressed air gun, making it impossible to dislodge it with a sneeze.
The boy did not suffer any serious infection and, once the BB was removed, he was able to blow his nose again without leaving the stinky place.