According to a report by The Star Online, a 72-year-old man's dentures got stuck in his throat during a surgery to remove a harmless lump in his abdominal wall, and that was the start of the poor man's ordeal.
The unnamed elderly man reportedly went through so much pain due to the mistake as the dentures weren’t discovered for eight days.
The elderly man's case was highlighted in a weekly peer-reviewed medical journal called The BMJ, and according to the journal, the man turned up at the emergency department complaining of blood in the mouth, swallowing difficulties and pain six days after the surgery.
He was given mouthwash, antibiotics and steroid as doctors initially thought he was suffering from a respiratory infection.
Two days later, he returned to the hospital, complaining of not being able to swallow any of the prescribed medicine.
He was then admitted to the hospital with a suspected aspiration pneumonia and a diagnostic procedure found the dentures lodged in his vocal cords.
The man later revealed to the doctors that he had lost his dentures, which consisted of a metal roof plate and three false teeth, during his stay at the hospital.
After having surgery to remove the dentures, he was discharged six days later. However, that's not the end of the poor man's story though.
He had to return to the hospital a few days later as he was suffering from some bleeding. As further tests revealed the bleeding had stopped, he was sent home, only to reappear 10 days later with the same problem after which he was admitted and discharged...again!
Six days later, he returned because of further bleeding. Tests revealed that he had internal wound tissue, which was cauterised to prevent further bleeding. Because he had lost so much blood, he also required a blood transfusion.
He was discharged after two days in the hospital, but nine days later, the man returned (again!) with more bleeding, which required emergency surgery as the source of the bleed was a torn artery in the wound.
A check-up a week after this procedure showed that the tissue was healing well, and six weeks later he had not needed further emergency care and his blood count was back to normal.
Even we feel exhausted reading about the man's ordeal. We hope the poor man's all OK now.
And let this be a reminder for you guys to always remove your false teeth when you're about to undergo a surgery.