Missing Aspirated Impacted Denture Requiring Tracheotomy for Removal

Aspirated foreign bodies continue to present challenges to otorhinolaryngologists. Removal of impacted airway foreign bodies via conventional methods can at times pose difficulty. This may be related to the location and type of foreign body, experience of the surgeon and anesthetist, and the availability of appropriate instruments. In adults, especially in edentulous patients, a swallowed denture usually gets lodged in the esophagus and entrance into the airway is uncommon.

We report a case of an uncommon foreign body (3-toothed artificial denture plate) impacted in the trachea of a 40-year-old male following an acute episode of an epileptic attack in which conventional methods of foreign body removal had failed. It was eventually removed via a direct laryngoscopy and tracheotomy technique.

This type of impaction of a large denture in the trachea is uncommon and late presentation after aspiration is even more rare. This unusual case of a foreign body in the airway is interesting due to its rarity, mode of entry, site of impaction, variable clinical presentation, and method of removal; and hence, prompted the authors to report this case.