Doctors Remove Toothbrush Swallowed By An Elderly Man In Israel

By Staff Reporter
Posted on 04/19/17 | News Source: Arutz Sheva

Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya removes toothbrush lodged in 85-year-old man's throat

An 85-year-old man was brought to the emergency room of the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya and said he had swallowed a toothbrush while cleaning up food left in his teeth.

Dr. Ronit Bar-Haim, who treated him in the emergency room, ordered an urgent C.T. examination in which a foreign body that turned out to be a toothbrush was found lodged in the elderly man's throat and could not be seen until imaging.

In short order the elderly man was transferred to the operating room, where Dr. Ohad Ronen and Dr. Ili Leus of the EEG Head and Neck Surgery Department of the Galilee Medical Center were waiting for him. They performed a quick surgical procedure during which the toothbrush was removed without causing any damage or complications in the elderly person's medical condition, who remained under surveillance in the ward and was then discharged to his home.

Dr. Ohad Ronen said, "We handle hundreds of cases throughout the year related to the removal of foreign bodies entering the nose, ear, and throat. These occur in infants, children, and adults. This incident of swallowing a toothbrush was unusual and I am glad that a rapid response enabled the surgical operation to be performed quickly without complications, and the man quickly returned to his life routine without need for lengthy recovery or hospitalization."


An 85-year-old man was brought to the emergency room of the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya and said he had swallowed a toothbrush while cleaning up food left in his teeth.

Dr. Ronit Bar-Haim, who treated him in the emergency room, ordered an urgent C.T. examination in which a foreign body that turned out to be a toothbrush was found lodged in the elderly man's throat and could not be seen until imaging.

In short order the elderly man was transferred to the operating room, where Dr. Ohad Ronen and Dr. Ili Leus of the EEG Head and Neck Surgery Department of the Galilee Medical Center were waiting for him. They performed a quick surgical procedure during which the toothbrush was removed without causing any damage or complications in the elderly person's medical condition, who remained under surveillance in the ward and was then discharged to his home.

Dr. Ohad Ronen said, "We handle hundreds of cases throughout the year related to the removal of foreign bodies entering the nose, ear, and throat. These occur in infants, children, and adults. This incident of swallowing a toothbrush was unusual and I am glad that a rapid response enabled the surgical operation to be performed quickly without complications, and the man quickly returned to his life routine without need for lengthy recovery or hospitalization."

An 85-year-old man was brought to the emergency room of the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya and said he had swallowed a toothbrush while cleaning up food left in his teeth.

Dr. Ronit Bar-Haim, who treated him in the emergency room, ordered an urgent C.T. examination in which a foreign body that turned out to be a toothbrush was found lodged in the elderly man's throat and could not be seen until imaging.

In short order the elderly man was transferred to the operating room, where Dr. Ohad Ronen and Dr. Ili Leus of the EEG Head and Neck Surgery Department of the Galilee Medical Center were waiting for him. They performed a quick surgical procedure during which the toothbrush was removed without causing any damage or complications in the elderly person's medical condition, who remained under surveillance in the ward and was then discharged to his home.

Dr. Ohad Ronen said, "We handle hundreds of cases throughout the year related to the removal of foreign bodies entering the nose, ear, and throat. These occur in infants, children, and adults. This incident of swallowing a toothbrush was unusual and I am glad that a rapid response enabled the surgical operation to be performed quickly without complications, and the man quickly returned to his life routine without need for lengthy recovery or hospitalization."