Dental News - Dentures discovered in larynx days after general anaesthetic

Dental Tribune International

Mon. 26. August 2019

save

GREAT YARMOUTH, UK: Dentures need to be taken out before a general anaesthetic is administered, doctors have warned after a 72-year-old man’s dentures became stuck in his throat during surgery to remove a harmless lump in his abdominal wall. They were not discovered for eight days. Aside from causing the patient considerable pain, bleeding and difficulty swallowing, the oversight led to repeated hospital visits, additional invasive tests, blood transfusions and, eventually, more surgery.

Dr Harriet Cunniffe, an otolaryngologist at James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Great Yarmouth and author of the case study, describes how, six days after abdominal surgery, the patient sought emergency medical care at a hospital. He complained of blood in the mouth, difficulty swallowing and pain. These symptoms had prevented him from eating solid food since the operation. Nothing in his test results prompted doctors to consider anything other than a respiratory infection and the side effects of having had a tube down his throat during the operation. He was therefore prescribed mouthwash, antibiotics and steroids, and was sent home.

Two days later, he returned with worsening symptoms. He had been unable to swallow any of the medication he had been prescribed. He was admitted to hospital with suspected aspiration pneumonia—a severe chest infection usually caused by inhaling food, stomach acid or saliva into the lungs. During this hospital stay, a diagnostic procedure to look at his throat and larynx revealed a semi-circular object lying across his vocal cords. This had clearly caused internal swelling and blistering.

Scroll down

When this was explained to him, the man revealed that his dentures had been lost during his initial hospital stay. He then had emergency surgery to remove the dentures and was discharged after six days. But six days later, a bout of bleeding prompted his return. When tests revealed the bleeding had stopped, he was sent home, only to reappear ten days later with the same problem.

After a couple of days, he was again discharged but returned six days later because of further bleeding. Tests revealed that he had internal wound tissue around the site of the blistering, which was then cauterised to prevent further bleeding. Because he had lost so much blood, he also required a blood transfusion. He was discharged after two days, but returned again nine days later with further bleeding, which required emergency surgery, as the source of the bleed was found to be a torn artery near the wound.

A check-up a week after this procedure showed that the tissue was healing well. He did not need further emergency care and after six weeks his blood count was found to be normal. Cunniffe notes that this is not the first documented case of dentures being inhaled while anaesthetic is being infused.

“There are no set national guidelines on how dentures should be managed during anaesthesia, but it is known that leaving dentures in during bag-mask ventilation allows for a better seal during induction, and therefore many hospitals allow dentures to be removed immediately before intubation,” she wrote.

The presence of any dentures or dental plates should be clearly documented before and after any surgical procedure, and all members of the surgical team should be made aware of what is to be done with them, Cunniffe added.

The case study, titled “Dentures discovered in larynx 8 days after general anaesthetic”, was published on 12 August 2019 in BMJ Case Reports.

Tags:

After Anaesthetic Days Dentures Discovered Général In Larynx

To post a reply please login or register

Early microbial determinants of peri-implant health discovered in a new study

ANN ARBOR, Mich., US: As the number of dental implants placed globally continues to rise, so too does the clinical significance of understanding ...

General Dental Council publishes assessment on use of AI in dentistry

LONDON, England: The UK’s General Dental Council has emphasised its commitment to understanding and monitoring the evolving impact of artificial ...

ADA slashes US$20 million in costs after drastic overspending

CHICAGO, US: The American Dental Association (ADA) has rescinded its 2025 operating budget and issued a new document that cuts over US$20 million (€17...

New 3D-printed denture solution available in the US

ROCK HILL, S.C., US: 3D Systems has announced the US commercial launch of its NextDent Jetted Denture Solution. The denture system utilises multiple ...

Review outlines best practices for digital dentures

XI’AN, China: Digital technologies are reshaping the management of edentulism by streamlining the restorative workflow for complete dentures. Compared ...

New partial dentures to be introduced in free webinar

NEW YORK, U.S.: In an upcoming, free Dental Tribune Study Club webinar on Wednesday, Feb. 27, an expert will be introducing Ultaire AKP removable partial ...

After IDS is before IDS

COLOGNE, Germany: About four weeks ago, the International Dental Show (IDS) closed with record results. Overall, more than 155,000 people from over 150 ...

Needle-free anesthetic close to marketability

SILVER SPRING, Md. & FORT COLLINS, Colo., USA: Human efficacy trials for a new dental anestethic that comes without the painful process of having to ...

New denture adhesion solution is inspired by octopus suction cups

LONDON, England: Researchers at King’s College London have recently published details of research which combines biological insights with cutting-edge ...

Free webinar highlights new technique in denture fabrication

Prof. Jiro Abe is the pioneer of a denture fabrication technique that is gaining popularity in dental practices around the world. In a free Ivoclar Vivadent...

Education

On-demand
webinar