The head of a broken toothbrush in the parapharyngeal space: A rare case report

Abstract

While brushing her teeth, the toothbrush of a 4-year-old female child was broken, and about 5.4 cm of it including the head was left behind in her mouth. The head of the toothbrush penetrated the lateral pharyngeal wall and got strongly impacted into the left parapharyngeal space due to the presence of bristles. The broken end of the handle was just protruding into the pharynx and was very difficult to locate. It led to a life-threatening condition. The head of the toothbrush was removed safely by endoscopic approach and the patient recovered without any complication.

Keywords

• Foreign body
• parapharyngeal space
• throat
• toothbrush