The doctors of the Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) hospital here have saved life of an elderly person who accidentally swallowed his artificial denture. Gopal Singh (61 years), a resident of Pauri, had accidentally swallowed his denture while sleeping and it got stuck into his food pipe.
The patient was taken to the nearest hospital but considering seriousness of the case, the doctors referred him to the higher centre.
Finally, he was rushed to GDMC where a team of ENT department doctors attended him. ENT specialist Dr Vikas Sikarwar said that the X Ray of neck and chest revealed that the foreign body had impacted the thoracic region of food pipe. “Removal was technically challenging as denture plate was very sharp with wires attached to it. A high risk of esophageal perforation was there which could have been life-threatening. Patient also had heart problem which made the procedure more complicated,’’ he said.
After carefully considering all the options, Dr Sikarwar supported by the anaesthetist Dr Atul Singh opted for rigid Esophagoscopy In a procedure extending to one and half hours, the plate was retrieved successfully, the doctors claimed.
“Foreign body ingestion is a common problem. Those at risk include young, children, elderly people and the people having intellectual disability. Common foreign bodies are coins in case of children, dentures in case of the elderly and meat bolus in alcohol intoxication. Ingestion of sharp and pointed objects like animal or fish bones, dentures and needles could lead to food passage perforation which is life- threatening. Such foreign bodies need to be removed urgently by endoscopic or open surgical procedures,’’ Dr Sikarwar said.
Congratulating the team of doctors and other staff members, the principal GDMC, Dr Pradip Bharti Gupta said that the ENT Department of Hospital is well equipped to deal with emergencies related to foreign bodies of food and air passages.