Dental screw stuck in lung, operation saves him

NAGPUR: Doctors at KRIMS Hospital recently dealt with the rare case of a man coughing hard and accidentally inhaling a dental implant screw the dentist was fixing in his teeth. The man was rushed to hospital after an x-ray confirmed the screw was lodged in his right lung, and it was removed using a bronchoscope.
The dentist first thought the patient had suffered a normal coughing episode, which may happen during dental procedures. But when he could not find one of the implant screws, the dentist realized something is wrong.
As the patient started coughing restlessly, the dentist conducted an x-ray of his chest and saw the implant screw stuck in the right lung.
“The dentist himself brought the patient to us. The patient was in a restless condition. The patient was continuously coughing. During bronchoscopy, we realized the screw was stuck in the right lung of the patient.
If not removed, it would have been a life-threatening condition for the patient,” said pulmonologist Dr Parimal Deshpande, who conducted the bronchoscopic removal of the screw along with Dr Swapnil Bakamwar. The patient was immediately better and is now doing well.
Pulmonologist Dr Ashok Arbat, who supervised the process, said that it requires great skill for the flexible bronchoscopic removal of foreign body, especially since the screw was a pointed object. “It was difficult to catch the screw in the forceps used in this process. New technology and skills of the doctors saved him,” he said, adding that such accidents during dental processes are very rare.
“It was an accident. Thankfully, the dental surgeon was aware and he suspected that the implant screw could be stuck in the lung. They conducted x-ray too. The alert doctor decided to bring the patient to a lung hospital, which was another good decision that saved the patient,” said Dr Deshpande.
In June 2022, a city woman had died after swallowing an artificial tooth. The woman swallowed it while drinking water. She continued household remedies like drinking water and eating bananas for almost 2 days before reaching Superspecialty Hospital. Doctors ask people to avoid such things.
Foreign body aspiration, also known as pulmonary aspiration, occurs when an object is accidentally inhaled into a person’s airways or lungs. If the object enters the food pipe and passed into gut, the risk is very low. But, entering wind pipe or lungs can be dangerous.