Man in Chennai swallows false teeth in sleep; removed in tricky surgery

Chennai: Doctors at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital surgically removed a denture from the food pipe of a 65-year-old man, who swallowed it in his sleep. The 65-year-old man from Neelankarai was admitted to the Government Royapettah Hospital in December 2014 for hernia surgery. But, he accidentally swallowed his denture in his sleep.

Doctors said the patient was then referred to the Department of Medical Gastroenterology at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. The endoscopy showed that the denture was stuck in the food pipe and the metal hooks in it were causing injury to the food pipe. The patient was again referred to the Institute of Surgical Gastroenterology here.

Director and head of the Institute of Surgical Gastroenterology, Dr. S.M.Chandramohan said, “We decided to approach the denture through the neck in view of the diseased lung and the position of the denture at the upper chest level.”

He cautioned people to be careful with dentures, as most cases encountered by physicians of people with foreign body ingestion is swallowing of dentures. It is risky as the metal hooks can cause serious internal injury.