Tanzanian medics remove toothbrush from old woman’s stomach after she swallowed it while brushing

A 66-year-old Tanzanian woman, who accidentally swallowed a toothbrush while brushing the back of her throat, has had the object successfully removed from her intestine by a team of specialists at the Benjamin Mkapa Hospital (BMH) in the East African nation’s capital city of Dodoma, according to local news outlet Daily News.

The toothbrush was reportedly removed from her stomach through gastroscopy. The procedure involves the use of a thin, flexible tube known as an endoscope to “view and operate on the internal organs and vessels.”

The endoscope, which is inserted into the stomach through the esophagus, is attached with a light and camera that is connected to a screen to enable doctors to see what they’re doing. The woman who swallowed the toothbrush was reportedly referred to specialists at the Benjamin Mkapa Hospital after she was initially taken to a nearby health facility.

“I was brushing my throat before I accidentally swallowed a piece of toothbrush,” the woman said in an interview.

A doctor who spoke to the news outlet said the procedure to remove the toothbrush from the woman’s stomach took about ten minutes.

“Before the procedure, the patient underwent an x-ray to establish the piece of toothbrush was situated. The whole process took at least 10 minutes,” Dr. Amonius Rutashobya said.