title: [Serious complications following removal of an ingested partial denture].
abstract: Complications occurred in a 41-year-old woman following an attempt to remove a partial denture by oesophagoscopy. These were: laceration of the oesophagus with subsequent mediastinitis, pneumothorax, and pneumopericardium. At a second oesophagoscopy the denture was removed from the oesophagus using a flexible hood. Following antibiotic treatment the patient recovered. In a 45-year-old man who had also swallowed a denture, the denture could not initially be localized. It was eventually recovered from the antrum using a flexible scope with a flexible hood. The patient was discharged from hospital in a good condition. Psychiatric and mentally handicapped patients run a high risk of denture ingestion. Ingested dental prostheses are often radiolucent, and are difficult to visualize using radiological methods. Extraction of the ingested foreign objects can lead to severe complications. This is why in this type of case, we recommend the use of a flexible scope and a flexible hood attachment.
authors.affiliation: Universitair Medisch Centrum St Radboud, Postbus 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen.
authors.forename: M H T
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: de Ruiter
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: van Damme
authors.forename: J P H
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Drenth
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003679:Deglutition; D003832:Denture, Partial, Removable / Q000009:adverse effects*; D020701:Esophagoscopes; D004945:Esophagoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D004947:Esophagus / Q000293:injuries; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011859:Radiography; D016896:Treatment Outcome