A summary of cases where artificial teeth have been swallowed, or have become impacted in the pharynx / compiled, with notes, by Felix Weiss.

  • Weiss, Felix
Date:
[between 1870 and 1879]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A summary of cases where artificial teeth have been swallowed, or have become impacted in the pharynx / compiled, with notes, by Felix Weiss. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    as possible infiltration of blood into the cellular tissue. A little farther dissection laid bare distinctly the common carotid artery, the inner connexions of which were easily separated with the handle of the knife and the finger. It was considered to be an important object to separate completely the carotid artery from its internal attachments ; and this having been accom- plished, the vessel, together with the sterno-mastoid muscle was drawn outwards and retained by retractors, and thus rescued from injury or molestation, while the further steps of the operation were carried on, the object of which was to reach the upper portion of the oesophagus. The thyroid body was now exposed by dividing a few of the external fibres of the sterno-hyoid and sterno-thyroid muscles, and the dissection was continued along the outer surface of the gland backwards towards the spine. The tissues were separated partly by the handle of the knife, partly by the blade. An artery, probably a branch of the superior thyroideal, was divided where it crossed the upper part of the wound, bled freely, and was secured with some difficulty. A larger vessel, probably the inferior thyroideal, was seen running across lower down, but escaped without injury. The larynx and trachea were gently drawn over towai’ds the right side, so as to widen the large wound which gaped along the side of the neck. The oesophagus was reached by following round the surface of the thyroid body, which completely covered and concealed the trachea. About two inches of the gullet could now be traced with the finger, but no projection indicating the presence of the foreign body could be felt. It therefore seemed tolerably certain that the plate had not descended into the oesophagus, and must be lodged in the lower part of the pharynx. With some difficulty, by tilting the larynx a little forwards and over to the left, the finger was passed behind it, that is, between the pharynx and the vertebra;, and the body was now obscurely felt exactly behind the cricoid cartilage, protected as it were by the inferior course of the thyroid. The point of the knife was now brought to bear on what appeared to be the most prominent part, which proved to be the single tooth, and the grating sensation
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