Udaipur: Man gulps 12-cm-long toothbrush; taken out from stomach without surgery

We have heard of children swallowing currency coins and rings but the incident of an adult gulping in toothbrush came as a surprise to common public and doctors alike at Rajasthan's Chittor. The surgeons examined the patient and took the brush out from his stomach without surgery at the GBH American Hospital.

Udaipur (Rajasthan) : A strange case has come to light in Udaipur, Rajasthan, where a person had gulped in a 12-cm toothbrush while brushing teeth. We have heard of children swallowing coins, rings and such small objects. But an adult accidentally gulping toothbrush came as a surprise even to doctors at Chittor in Udaipur.

The doctors retrieved the toothbrush without operation in GBH American Hospital. As per available records, just fifty such incidents of toothbrush swallowing have happened in the world so far. While cleaning the throat and mouth, the brush fell into the man's throat and caused nausea. By the time he could realise what happened, the brush slipped deeper and went into the stomach.

When all kinds of efforts failed, the relatives took the man to the nearest hospital, but there also it was not possible to remove the toothbrush. Then, the relatives took him to the GBH American Hospital here. A CT scan was done in which the toothbrush was found stuck in the upper part of the abdomen. Surgeon Dr Shashank J Trivedi decided to remove it with endoscopic procedure.

Dr Tarun Bhatnagar and Dr Vikas Agarwal from anesthesia department prepared for endoscopic procedure and Dr Shashank Trivedi performed endoscopic procedure and removed the 12 cm toothbrush through the patient's mouth. Dr Shashank said that till now only fifty cases of toothbrush swallowing have been reported globally.

Earlier it was reported in AIIMS Delhi in 2019. This is Rajasthan's first case of toothbrush swallowing till now which was done without any incision. After the procedure, the patient was examined from endoscopic procedure to intestines. No obstruction or problem due to toothbrush was noticed. Patient was discharged after keeping him in ICU for one day. Now this case will be sent for publication in the General of Surgery and registration in WHO (World Health Organisation) records.