An unusual cause for halitosis

Gabriella Bathgate1, Haythem Ali1, Mohamed Aboul Enein1

  • 1Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, Tunbridge Wells, UK.

BMJ Case Reports
|April 21, 2016
PubMed

This report describes an unusual cause for halitosis and an unusual treatment for the underlying problem. Halitosis is a symptom which can result from a diverse range of underlying pathologies, most frequently those affecting the oral cavity or respiratory tract. Uncommonly, it arises due to pathology within the upper gastrointestinal tract. The case of a patient presenting with severe persistent halitosis attributable to mesh erosion occurring 8 years after redo laparoscopic hiatus hernia repair is described. Full external healing of the erosion tract was observed such that no symptomatic oesophageal perforation resulted. Mesh erosion is typically managed with surgical intervention. In this case, the infected mesh was successfully removed endoscopically.

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