Suggest Treatment For Ingestion Of Plastic Tooth Pick

Posted on Fri, 12 Jun 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 12 Jun 2015 Answered on

Thu, 9 Jul 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : what do you do when you swallow a plastic tooth pick

Answered by Dr. Hari Charan Perigela (25 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
If it causes pain,it has to be removed.

Detailed Answer:
Hi

It all depends on the time duration that has lapsed after accidental swallowing.
If the sharp end of the tooth pic is causing pain in the stomach few minutes after its intake, it has to be removed by Upper GI Endoscope.
Most of the times, it passes in the stool. Once, I removed a metal object which was 2 inches in length per rectally. It had passed from the stomach to the small intestine and then upto Large intestine. From there, it reached the rectum and got stuck. I could palpate it per rectally and remove it. Patient was fine and recovered very well.

Hope I answered your query. If you have any questions, I will clarify further.
Wish you good health.
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj