Management of Denture Foreign Bodies in the Esophagus

During the last 16 years, seven cases of denture foreign bodies in the esophagus were treated at the Third Department of Surgery, Nihon University, School of Medicine. Before coming to our hospital, all cases had been treated by endoscopy in other hospital or in other department unsuccessfully. In our seven cases, two dentures were removed by esophagotomy through the external neck inscision, three dentures required thoracotomy, and remaining two dentures were removed by gastrotomy. In general, esophageal foreign bodies can be removed by endoscopy, but in some cases whose foreign bodies could not be removed by endoscopy or in which the perforation of esophageal wall is suspected, surgical removal should be necessary.