Successful experience in dealing with tooth aspiration after extubation: a case report

There is a high incidence of tooth injury or loss due to endotracheal intubation or extubation. Tooth injury may be costly or even life threatening. In particular, tooth aspiration may cause airway obstruction, aspiration pneumonitis, or lung collapse, but tooth aspiration after tracheal extubation is rarely reported and easily overlooked. A missing tooth after extubation can be more dangerous. However, there are no practical guidelines and standard intervention strategies to deal with a loose or missing tooth. This article presents the case of a 67-year-old man who underwent laparoscopic colectomy for a colonic tumor under general anesthesia, and whose left maxillary incisor was loose. After surgery, the loose tooth was missing and we had to go through a difficult process to find it. Finally, a chest X-ray revealed a foreign body located in the trachea, and it was successfully removed by fiber-bronchoscopy. The patient woke up with no discomfort and was discharged without complications on the third day after surgery. Based on our experience in this case, we put forward a complete and effective flowchart named "VICTOR" as an option for the prevention of tooth loss and aspiration during surgical procedures and for locating a missing tooth in a timely, appropriate and safe way during the perioperative period.