2020 Volume 71 Issue 6 Pages 409-413
A foreign body caught in the pharynx and esophagus is a relatively common occurrence encountered in ambulatory practice. It can normally be extracted orally or endoscopically, but removal of some types of foreign bodies requires an external incision. For example, while a partial denture with sharp clasp is difficult to remove, removal of a complete denture with no sharp clasp is typically safe. We encountered a patient with a cervical esophageal foreign body consisting of a complete denture with no sharp clasp that required an external incision for its extraction. The patient was reported to have lost her complete denture, which was confirmed by esophageal fiberscopic examination. The denture could not be removed by fiberscopy, however, and trans-oral removal was attempted under general anesthesia. But as the complete denture was cutting into the esophageal mucosa, it would not move. To extract it, an external incision was required. This case confirmed that with a complete denture having no sharp clasp but cutting into the mucosa, removal requires an external incision.
