Successful Laparoscopic Removal of an Ingested Toothbrush

Abstract

Most ingested foreign bodies will pass through the gastrointestinal tract without any problems. On the other hand long, slender objects such as a toothbrush will rarely be able to negotiate the angulated and fixed  retroperitoneal duodenal loop. Spontaneous toothbrush passage has never been described and therefore endoscopic or surgical removal is always required. Here we describe an asymptomatic young female presenting to  out-patient clinic with a history of unintentional toothbrush ingestion 4 years
prior. Endoscopic removal was unsuccessful because the toothbrush was partially embedded in to the gastric mucosa. We describe the second case to date of laparoscopic removal of a toothbrush via a gastrotomy with  subsequent intra-corporeal repair of the defect.

Key words: Foreign body, gastronintestinal, laparoscopic, surgery, toothbrush