Surgeons remove 6-cm denture from Mumbai man’s food pipe

Abdul Gani, 60, accidentally swallowed his denture while drinking water.

In a complicated surgery that was performed recently, Mumbai surgeons removed a six-cm-long denture from the food pipe of a Sakinaka resident.

Abdul Gani with doctors from Zen Multispecialty Hospital, Chembur. (HT photo)

Abdul Gani, 60, accidentally swallowed his denture while drinking water but did not realise it. After he struggled to eat, and even breathe, Gani visited a local physician who suggested an X-ray. “The doctor wasn’t aware that the denture with one tooth and two canines sides was made of plastic, which the X-ray failed to detect,” said Gani.

As the chest and upper abdominal pain persisted, Gani took a second opinion from another doctor in Ghatkopar. This time, the doctors spotted the denture after performing endoscopy on Gani. However, they could not extract it owing to its critical location. Gani was shifted to Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, Sion, where two more attempts were made to extract the denture using endoscopic procedures, but to no avail.

Two days after the incident, he was shifted to Zen Multispecialty Hospital, Chembur. “Due to its massive size, horseshoe like structure and location, it was impossible to get a firm grip on the object. Every attempt to enter the oesophagus would push the object further, making it difficult to extract without opening the food pipe through a surgery,” Dr Roy Patankar, hospital director and gastroenterologist, said.

After their attempts to remove the denture using endoscopic procedures failed, doctors decided perform surgery on Gani to extract the denture. Gani underwent an oesophagotomy, during which the surgeons cut open the food pipe, removed denture and sutured it successfully without any untoward medical emergency. While Gani remained on liquids for over three days, a special dye test was performed to check the status of the food pipe to allow him consumption of solid food.

“Last week, after two months of surgery, we performed the final endoscopy to check the status of his oesophagus and it’s completely healed. The most prolific part being throughout this period, the patient observed Ramzan and continued with fasting which has said he hasn’t missed in past two decades,” Dr Patankar added.

Citing the incident, gastroenterologists have warned senior citizens to ensure they don’t have loose dentures, since swallowing the object has proved to be fatal in 20-30% of cases.