Guwahati, February 2019: A rare and unheard case was recorded in Shillong where a woman in her 50s allegedly swallowed an entire toothbrush while brushing which was removed from her stomach without a surgery.
The patient had come to see Dr. Issac Syiem, a Senior Surgeon in the Shillong Civil Hospital on January 25 and narrated the whole incident. Prior to this, she had visited other doctors in the hospital, who referred the case to Dr. Syiem.
When she was evaluated by Dr. Syiem, he was surprised to know that the patient was in no discomfort and suffered no pain. The patient, a resident of Lower Mawprem, told him that she would have never approached any doctor if not for her daughter’s insistence.
The X-ray reports could not detect the toothbrush in her stomach. That was when Dr. Syiem suggested her to undergo endoscopy and it was then that the object was sighted in her stomach.
He said, “We used an endoscope, hooked the object and successfully pulled the brush out through her mouth. No surgery was needed in the process.” The patient was kept under observation for a few hours and was discharged on the same day (Jan 28). “Even though there was no discomfort, the situation could have turned life threatening had she not been brought in for medical aid,” he added.
This was the first time that this kind of rare and unheard case was recorded in Meghalaya.
