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Case Reports
. 2014 Nov 6:7:788.
doi: 10.1186/1756-0500-7-788.

A case of pharyngeal injury in a patient with swallowed toothbrush: a case report

Yeon-Hoo Kim, Sung-Il Cho, Nam-Yong Do, Jun-Hee Park  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

A case of pharyngeal injury in a patient with swallowed toothbrush: a case report

Yeon-Hoo Kim et al. BMC Res Notes. .

Abstract

Background: Otolaryngologists encounter cases of various foreign bodies in the oral and pharyngeal regions. One commonly found foreign body is a fish bone, ingested in most cases by carelessness or an accident. These foreign materials are removed by endoscopy or through a simple procedure. However, hypopharyngeal damage is rarely caused by a foreign body in the pharynx following the swallowing of a toothbrush.

Case presentation: A 44-year-old Asian male visited the emergency room with chief complaints of intraoral pain and dysphagia that had started on the same day. The patient had paranoid-type schizophrenia that began 10 years ago; he had been hospitalized and was being treated at another clinic, and was transferred to the emergency room by the medical staff after swallowing a toothbrush. We successfully removed a toothbrush located within the pharynx of a patient with a history of a psychologic disorder via surgery and conservative treatment.

Conclusion: The case with this patient, and a rapid diagnosis as well as treatment is imperative. The presence and state of a foreign body must be determined through a careful physical examination and imaging, followed by the immediate removal of the foreign body, all while keeping in mind the possibility of accompanying damage to nearby tissues.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(Arrow) A toothbrush head observed in the nasal cavity and oropharynx region. (Water’s view).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Sagittal view of neck CT scan. (Arrow) A neck CT shows the toothbrush spanning the nasopharynx and oropharynx, as well as subcutaneous emphysema in the anterior and lateral cervical regions.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Coronal view of same CT. (Arrow) A neck CT shows the toothbrush spanning the nasopharynx and oropharynx, as well as subcutaneous emphysema in the anterior and lateral cervical regions.
Figure 4
Figure 4
At the oropharynx, part of the toothbrush handle is observed.
Figure 5
Figure 5
The removed toothbrush after the surgery. Total length is approximately 20 cm.
Figure 6
Figure 6
(Arrow) A small leakage was observed on an esophagogram performed on the first postoperative day.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Normal findings were observed on an esophagogram performed on the 10 th postoperative day.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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