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It may sound strange if the toothbrush slips from your hand while brushing and goes straight into the stomach. But in reality such an incident has happened.
One such rare incident happened with Rajendra Malusare, a resident of Shirwali village of Pen taluka of Raigarh district of Maharashtra. Due to this he had to be admitted to the hospital.
50 year old Rajendra Malusare is an auto rickshaw driver.
The toothbrush was not visible in the initial investigation. However, endoscopy test confirmed that the toothbrush was stuck in the stomach.
This 19 cm long toothbrush was taken out through endoscopy without any surgery. He returned home within a few hours of treatment.
Endoscopy is a procedure in which a thin and flexible tube with a camera is inserted inside the body through the mouth.
Through this, the internal parts of the food pipe, stomach and digestive system are examined. Through this process, things stuck in the digestive system can be taken out without surgery.
what happened while brushing
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Rajendra Malusare, resident of Pen, was brushing teeth that morning as usual. Then by mistake the toothbrush went inside through the throat. After this he contacted a nearby doctor.
End
The toothbrush was not visible in the X-ray examination. Therefore, he was sent to a hospital in Navi Mumbai for further investigation.
The endoscopy examination done there revealed that the entire toothbrush was stuck in the stomach. Many times people accidentally swallow the middle of a fruit or any other thing, but this incident of swallowing a toothbrush is quite rare.
The team led by Dr. Raosaheb Rathod, a gastroenterologist, hepatologist and endoscopy specialist at Medicover Hospital, successfully completed this challenging treatment.
19 cm long toothbrush
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About 3 to 4 hours after swallowing the toothbrush, Malusare started having mild stomach pain. Endoscopy test confirmed that a 19 cm long toothbrush was present in his stomach.
Doctors said that a long and hard object like a toothbrush has very little chance of coming out of the digestive system naturally.
Such things can get stuck in narrow parts of the food pipe or digestive system. This can cause serious problems like internal injury, blockage in the digestive system or holes in the intestine.
The procedure done through endoscopy of this patient lasted for about 30 minutes. The toothbrush was stuck horizontally in the stomach. Therefore, it was a big challenge to catch it and take it out safely from the winding parts of the food pipe.
During treatment, the toothbrush got stuck at the junction of the stomach and food pipe. After this, a lot of care had to be taken to take it out from the narrow part of the throat. After several attempts, the doctor was successful in taking out the entire toothbrush through the mouth without surgery.
After removing the toothbrush, endoscopy was done again to ensure that there was no injury to the food pipe or digestive system. After being kept under observation for some time, the patient's condition was found to be normal. After this he was allowed to go home the same day.
However, we asked Dr. Raosaheb Rathore why the swallowed toothbrush was not visible when Malusare was first X-rayed.
He said, "Plastic things are usually not clearly visible in X-ray images. Things like bones and metal are often clearly visible in X-rays. Things like plastic are often not visible in X-rays."
"Therefore, it cannot be determined on the basis of X-ray results alone that there is no object inside the body. If the patient definitely says that he has swallowed something or is having trouble after it, then further investigation is necessary. In this patient's case, it was only after endoscopy that it was found that the entire toothbrush was present inside the stomach. Therefore, in such incidents, the patient's medical history and symptoms are important."
Why endoscopy?
Doctor Rathod said, "After examining the patient, it became clear that the toothbrush was present in the stomach. After this we decided to take it out through endoscopy."
"In endoscopy, a flexible tube is inserted inside the body through the mouth. There is a camera in its front part, through which the internal part of the digestive system can be seen. In this process, with the help of special instruments, the stuck object can be caught and taken out. In this case, one end of a toothbrush was held by placing a special instrument in the front part of the endoscope."
He further said, "After this, an attempt was made to take it out properly. Considering the condition of the patient and the place where the toothbrush was stuck, it was possible to treat it through endoscopy. Therefore, surgery was not required. However, before taking such a decision, it is important to check the condition of the thing, the condition of the digestive system and the overall health condition of the patient."
how difficult was it to remove the brush
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The medical team had to face many difficulties while trying to take the toothbrush out through the mouth. A special device was placed on the front part of the endoscope and one end of the toothbrush was held. But it got stuck at the junction of the stomach and the food pipe.
By changing the position of the patient's body and making repeated attempts, he was moved forward. After this it also got stuck in the narrow part of the throat. This process had to be completed very carefully because the toothbrush could not bend.
Doctor Rathod said, "After taking out the toothbrush, endoscopy was done again. In this examination, the upper and lower parts of the food pipe were examined."
"The examination did not find any serious injury. After this, the patient was kept under observation for some time. When his condition was confirmed to be normal, he was allowed to go home within three to four hours."
How did the brush get inside?
BBC Marathi contacted Rajendra Malusare about this incident and asked him about the incident that happened that day.
He told, "It is my habit to clean my tongue with a toothbrush after brushing. While doing this, the brush slipped from my hand and went inside. At that time, there was an injury in the throat too. So I thought that it might have got stuck in the throat. But later it was found that it had gone inside the stomach. "
"Initially, I was afraid that I might have trouble breathing because the brush was stuck inside. But I immediately went to the doctor. Treatment was not possible in Pen, so I went to Kharghar in Navi Mumbai. I thought surgery would have to be done. But the treatment was done through endoscopy. I was sent home the same day."
doctor's advice
Seeing this incident, we asked Dr. Rathore what important thing the common people should understand from this.
He said, "The most important thing is that one should not hurry while brushing. One should avoid talking, laughing or being busy in other things while having the toothbrush in the mouth. Especially one should not take the toothbrush too deep inside the mouth and brush."
"If you accidentally swallow a toothbrush or any other large object, you should go to the hospital immediately."
Doctor Rathod gave another advice. He said, "In such a situation, one should not try to vomit on one's own. One should not try to push the thing down after eating. This may cause injury to the food pipe or the thing may get stuck more tightly."
"Despite the initial pain being less, the possibility of internal injury or other complications cannot be ruled out. Therefore, it is very important to detect the problem in time and get proper treatment."
Published by Collective Newsroom for the BBC.
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