Man's Dentures Were Stuck In His Throat After Surgery And No One Realized It For Eight Days

A man’s dentures ended up stuck in his throat following surgery in England and didn’t realize it for over a week.

The 72-year-old man had originally undergone throat surgery over an abnormal lump that had formed. While it was relatively harmless, the surgery was done as a precautionary removal. By the end, the lump was removed with no sign of possible future problems or complications.

However, the man returned to the hospital six days later complaining about blood in his mouth along with problems breathing and swallowing. He was sent back home with antibiotics and mouthwash after doctors were unable to identify the problem. Two days later, the man returned with worsening symptoms and was checked in for suspected pneumonia.

The cause was finally identified when x-rays revealed a semi-circular object stuck in the man’s throat that was causing the inflammation and bleeding. He had to undergo another surgery to remove the object which turned out to be the man’s dentures lying on his vocal cords.

The man remained in the hospital for another six days before being released. He did return to the hospital several times over the next month complaining of complications from the surgery before his throat ultimately healed.

"In addition to reminding us of the risks of leaving dentures in during induction of anesthesia when the Swiss cheese model of errors aligns, this case also highlights a number of important learning points,” Harriet Cunniffe and other authors said in a case report published by the British Medical Journal.

“The first is to always listen to your patient. It has long been known that one gets the majority of the information needed to form a diagnosis based on the patients’ history.”