Illinois man accidentally inhales drill bit during dental procedure

WHAT’S BEING CLAIMED:

• Tom Jozsi had to go to the hospital after inhaling a “drill bit” during a routine dental procedure.
• The inch-long drill bit was found deep in his lung.
• Doctors had to use a catheter intended for detecting cancer to remove the object from his lungs

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Tom Jozsi, 60, went to the dentist for a routine procedure but ended up in the hospital after inhaling an inch-long drill bit.

“I was at the dentist getting a tooth filled, and then next thing I know I was told I swallowed this tool,” he told WISN 12 News. “I didn’t really even feel it going down. All I felt was a cough.”

Jozsi was unable to tell if he inhaled or ingested the thing, so the hospital had to locate the foreign object. The drill bit was later found in his lungs, and not his stomach.

“When they did the CT scan they realized, you didn’t swallow it. You inhaled it,” Jozsi remembered.

Dr. Abdul Alraiyes, a pulmonologist at the Aurora Medical Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin, first tried a procedure using normal scopes but was unable to remove the object that was too deep in the lung.

“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,” the doctor said.

It appeared as if the drill bit would not be removed without intensive surgery.  

“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.

Dr. Alraiyes wanted to avoid a surgical procedure, so he and his team tried to remove the foreign object again. Only this time, using a catheter used “for early detection of cancer, especially lung cancer.” 

The doctor explained that this particular catheter, because of its size, made a non-surgical approach possible. The surgical team managed to remove the foreign object from the patient’s lung, without causing complications or damage.  

Jozsi woke up after the procedure and was informed 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,” he said.

Jozsi took the object home. He put it on display, on a shelf for everyone to see.

Source: People