Illinois Man Inhaled Dental Drill Bit During Procedure
An Illinois man who traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin for a routine dental visit ended up in the hospital after things went about as badly as they could have.
"I was at the dentist getting a tooth filled, and then next thing I know I was told I swallowed this tool," Tom Jozsi told WISN. "I didn't really even feel it going down. All I felt was a cough. When they did the CT scan they realized, you didn't swallow it. You inhaled it."
Doctors believe that inhaling just before he coughed caused him to inhale it deep into his airway.
The drill bit made it so far into his lung, that pulmonary expert Dr. Abdul Alraiyes said that the normal scopes used to remove items from lungs couldn't reach it.
"When I saw the cat scan, and where that object is sitting, it was really far down on the right lower lobe of the lung," Alraiyes told the news station.
It was scary for Jozsi, because of the possibility it couldn't be removed without removing part of the lung.
"What happens if he can't get it out? And the answer really was, part of my lung was going to have to get removed," Jozsi said.
So, the Aurora Medical Center-Kenosha team and Alraiyes decided to try a newer device not meant for the removal of foreign objects.
Using a tool designed to help detect lung cancer earlier, the catheter was the right size to reach and remove the one inch drill bit.
When the surgery was over, Jozsi knew immediately that the procedure was a success.
"I was never so happy as when I opened my eyes, and I saw him with a smile under that mask shaking a little plastic container with the tool in it," Jozsi said.
He said he took it home and it's displayed on a shelf.
Read more at WISN
LOOK: The top holiday toys from the year you were born
More From B100
