Chennai: When Pattu consulted the doctors at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) with progressive difficulty in swallowing for more than three weeks, little did she know that the situation was grave that could have damaged her vitals.
However, timely diagnosis by the doctors of RGGGH helped the patient recover.
The 65-year-old patient, a resident of Villivakkam and a milkmaid by occupation had a history of broken incisors teeth during the young age, from then on she was on partial dentures.
Speaking at a press meet held today, RGGGH Dean, Dr Jayanthi said, “Incidentally, her dentures were found to be missing which the patient was unaware of and consulted the in-house ENT specialist. On observation, it was found out that the patient was suffering from ‘dysphagia,’ difficulty in swallowing.”
“An endoscopy test reveled that she had a large foreign body (dentures) found 15 cms deep from the incisors and was found in the junction of food pipe and throat. Since the material was large, additional care had to be given to remove with tooth forceps. Partial denture with the dimension of 3 cm X 3 cm was retrieved with serrated margins,” Dr Jayanthi said.
The doctor further said that ignoring the condition would have led the tooth perforate deep inside thereby damaging vital organs. The patient underwent surgery on Monday and the entire procedure was said to be covered under the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme (CMCHIS), which has saved Pattu a sum of Rs 50,000.