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Case Reports
. 2022 Dec 20;2022(12):rjac564.
doi: 10.1093/jscr/rjac564. eCollection 2022 Dec.

Fatal sepsis from appendicitis caused by an impacted tooth

Xavier Field  1 , Thomas Burton  1 , Grant Christey  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Fatal sepsis from appendicitis caused by an impacted tooth

Xavier Field et al. J Surg Case Rep. .

Abstract

Acute appendicitis is one of the most common causes of acute abdominal pain globally. The pathophysiology of acute appendicitis is due to occlusion of the appendiceal lumen commonly from a faecolith. Obstruction of the appendiceal lumen by ingested foreign bodies is possible albeit rare. Here, we present an extremely rare case of acute appendicitis caused by impaction of the patients tooth within the lumen of the appendix. There have been only seven reported cases of impacted teeth causing appendicitis in the literature. There are no evidence-based guidelines for the management of appendicitis caused by tooth impaction. The authors suggest operative management with appendicectomy should be considered in the first instance.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Axial and coronal CT slices showing radiopaque object in the right lower abdominal quadrant.
Figure 2
Figure 2
CT reconstruction showing a tooth near the pelvic brim.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Specimen photograph of the retrieved tooth containing a metallic filling.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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