A 17-year-old boy, who had suffered from an injury to his chest three days before, was pointed out right pneumothorax and a foreign body in the right thoracic cavity and refferred to our hospital. His vital signs including respiratory functions were fair and hemothorax was not seen. Emergency operation was done by thoracoscopic technique, which is application of thoracoscopic bulla resection. He had no complications and felt less pain after the surgery.
The thoracoscopic procedure has been applied for emergency operation in a few cases. Only three cases including ours have been reported as foreign body removal by thoracoscope. This procedure has many advantages of less surgical stress, less postoperative pain, and minimal cosmetic problems. If the patient's general condition permits, this procedure would be the first choice of procedure to remove intrathoracic foreign body.