Ingested removable partial denture causing esophageal perforation in a patient with autism: Management and prevention.

A 60-year-old autistic woman swallowed her partial denture due to repetitive swallowing behaviors. The denture got stuck and damaged her food pipe, requiring emergency surgery. She needed intensive care with breathing support and tube feeding. The doctors say this serious situation could have been prevented with better planning for her autism-related behaviors.

This case report describes a 60-year-old autistic woman with repetitive swallowing behaviors who accidentally ingested her removable partial denture, resulting in esophageal impaction and perforation. Endoscopic removal attempts failed, requiring emergency surgical intervention including transcervical exploration, esophagotomy, foreign body removal, and esophageal repair. The patient experienced significant complications requiring prolonged hospitalization, mechanical ventilation, and tube feeding. The authors emphasize this incident was both predictable and preventable, highlighting the need for specific preventive strategies in autistic individuals with oral fixation or repetitive swallowing behaviors to avoid such catastrophic outcomes.

Highlights critical need for risk assessment when prescribing removable dental prosthetics for autistic individuals with repetitive oral behaviors. Suggests requirement for alternative treatment approaches or enhanced safety measures. Emphasizes importance of interdisciplinary collaboration between dental professionals and autism specialists.

Single case report with no control group or comparative data. Limited generalizability beyond similar cases. No detailed analysis of preventive strategies or long-term outcomes. Sample size of one provides minimal evidence for broader recommendations.

A 60-year-old woman with autism and a repetitive swallowing behavior ingested a removable partial denture that impacted in the proximal esophagus. Attempts at endoscopic removal were unsuccessful. Esophageal perforation was recognized, necessitating emergency transcervical surgical exploration, esophagotomy with foreign body removal, and repair of the esophageal perforation. She had a prolonged postoperative stay involving mechanical ventilatory support and gastric tube feeds.

This situation was predictable and preventable, and application of key principles may help avoid such catastrophic incidents in similar patients.