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Case Reports
. 2024 Jun 23;16(6):e62955.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.62955. eCollection 2024 Jun.

Accidental Toothbrush Ingestion

Abhijeet Karad  1 , Kranthi Dandi  1 , Debabrata Banerjee  1 , Amol S Dahale  1 , Yogesh Bade  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Accidental Toothbrush Ingestion

Abhijeet Karad et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

The accidental ingestion of a toothbrush is an extremely rare occurrence, typically involving young women with psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bulimia, or anorexia nervosa. There are no known cases of a swallowed toothbrush being expelled naturally through the rectum. Therefore, prompt extraction of an ingested toothbrush from the gastrointestinal tract using a surgical or endoscopic method is a necessity. Here, we report a case of a psychologically healthy woman ingesting a toothbrush accidentally while cleaning her tongue with the back of the toothbrush. In our report, we document the successful extraction of a toothbrush from the esophagus endoscopically without any complications.

Keywords: accidental ingestion; endoscopy; gastroenterology; gastrointestinal foreign body; toothbrush.

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Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. X-ray of the chest and abdomen
Figure 2
Figure 2. Tail end of toothbrush in esophagus.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Toothbrush being extracted using a snare.
Figure 4
Figure 4. Length of toothbrush measured to be 19 cm.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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