New fear unlocked: Toothbrush injury triggers stroke and deadly infection risk in Japanese man

A man landed in the hospital after he fainted while brushing his teeth. The 50-year-old suffered deep injuries at his home after he lost consciousness in a strange incident. The incident was revealed by doctors at the University of Tokyo Hospital in BMJ Case Reports. After he fainted, the toothbrush scraped the back of his throat so badly that it started trapping air inside. This could have triggered a serious infection, and he was hospitalised for six days to avoid any untoward incident, Gizmodo reported. However, when he visited the doctor initially, he didn't know that he was suffering from a problem caused by his toothbrush. The case report states that the man fainted while brushing his teeth. At the time, he didn't know about his injury. He visited a hospital with a complaint of a sore throat. When the doctor examined his mouth, he noticed a three-millimetre-long abrasion along his soft palate. There was no bleeding, but the man was given a CT scan. It revealed how serious his injury was, and he was found to be suffering from retropharyngeal emphysema. Also Read: Man spends 52 years with toothbrush he swallowed as a kid stuck in intestine

Man was hospitalised for toothbrush injury

In this condition, free air or gas enters the area behind the throat. Bronchial asthma is the most common cause of it. However, some kind of physical force or coughing can also result in it. The problem is serious since it can let certain bacteria grow in areas of the chest where they normally cannot. This can trigger life-threatening infections like mediastinitis, or the formation of blood clots in the carotid artery, triggering a stroke. The seriousness of the case led the man to be hospitalised for six days. He was given a prophylactic course of antibiotics to prevent bacteria from entering and growing in the area. Doctors released him without him suffering any complications.

The authors of the report stated that toothbrush injuries are less common in adults as compared to kids. They asserted that there is a need for doctors to be aware of the problems it can cause, and medical imaging should be ordered to properly assess the extent of the damage. Those found with toothbrush-related retropharyngeal emphysema should be administered preventive antibiotics and kept under observation at the hospital for two to three days. In 2023, another man in Japan got a toothbrush stuck to the back of his throat, and it had to be removed surgically. Thankfully, it did not cause any damage to any of his organs.