A man who feared he had cancerous lump in his lung was astounded to find it was in fact a toy traffic cone he inhaled 40 years ago.
The unnamed 47-year-old from Preston was referred to a respiratory clinic after discovering the lump amid fears he may have cancer.
He had complained he had been feeling unwell for more than a year and coughing up mucus.
Doctors at first diagnosed the man with a tumour after an x-ray showed a mass in his lung, but during a bronchoscopy procedure it was revealed to be a “Playmobil traffic cone”.
The man told doctors he regularly played with the classic toy during his childhood.
The 1cm toy was removed and his condition rapidly improved, doctors reported in the BMJ journal.
The report said: “Following the procedure, the patient reported that he regularly played with and even swallowed pieces of Playmobil during his childhood.
“He recalled being given this Playmobil set for his seventh birthday and believes he aspirated the toy traffic cone soon after.
“Four months after removal of the tiny traffic cone, his productive cough had almost entirely settled and a chest X-ray only showed minor residual consolidation.”
The doctors added that that it was the first case they had seen of such an object going unnoticed for decades.
The report added: “This may be because aspiration occurred at such a young age that the patient’s airway was able to remodel and adapt to the presence of this foreign body.”
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