title: Parapharyngeal space foreign body.
abstract: We present a case of an unusual toothbrush foreign body in the parapharyngeal space in a 1.5-year-old child. Children are most affected by this kind of trauma. Quicker and exact diagnosis guarantee proper treatment and recovery. The toothbrush had broken and one-third (about 6 cm) of it was left in the child's mouth, causing some swallowing problems. We do not observe any injury of neurovascular structures or inflammation complications. Under general anesthesia, neck exploration was undertaken and the toothbrush removed. External exploration of the neck is the method of choice in the treatment of big parapharyngeal space foreign body as we demonstrated in our case. This method guarantees a good exposure of the neurovascular structures of the neck.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Nicolaus Copernicus University Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, Sklodowska-Curie 9 Str., 85-094, Bydgoszcz, Poland. pburduk@wp.pl
authors.forename: Pawel Krzysztof
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Burduk
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D010614:Pharynx / Q000601:surgery; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000295:instrumentation