title: A case of small-bowel obstruction secondary to inadvertent ingestion of impression material.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Small-bowel obstruction (SBO) is responsible for approximately 12 to 16 percent of surgical hospital admissions and more than 300,000 operations annually in the United States. This has resulted in more than $2.3 billion in health care delivery per year. SBO is a serious complication, carrying a 10 percent risk of mortality.
  
  
  METHODS
  The authors report a case of SBO resulting from inadvertent ingestion of polysulfide impression material. A 74-year-old man visited the emergency department with diffuse, nonradiating, colicky periumbilical pain. The patient was admitted to the general surgery service of the hospital, and after four days of supportive therapy without evidence of progression of the foreign body, he underwent an exploratory laparotomy. The authors later identified the foreign body as polysulfide impression material.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SBO is a rare but significant complication that can result from a procedure that clinicians perform on a routine basis. Dentists should consider this complication whenever they are concerned that a high-risk patient may have ingested dental materials.
authors.affiliation: Dr. Murphy is a major, Dental Corps, U.S. Air Force, and is a resident, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, David Grant USAF Medical Center, Travis Air Force Base, Calif. Address reprint requests to Dr. Murphy, 675 Stoverdale Road, Hummelstown, Pa. 17036, jpmurfi@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: James P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Webb
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Hutchison
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003760:Dental Impression Materials / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography; D013440:Sulfides / Q000009:adverse effects
chemical_list: D003760:Dental Impression Materials; D013440:Sulfides; C032915:polysulfide
keywords: Small-bowel obstruction; polysulfide impression material