Illinois Man Has Drill Bit Removed From His Lungs After Inhaling It During Dental Visit

Drill Bit Removed From Man’s Lung After It Broke Off During Dental Visit

An Illinois man says a drill bit was removed from his lung after he accidentally sucked it through his airways during a dental procedure.

Tom Jozsi,60, explained the incident that took place when he had a routine dental visit where his dentist performed a cavity filling.

However, the drill bit broke off during the procedure and Joszi reportedly “inhaled” it, causing the object to fall into his airways. The object ended up stuck in his lung for about four days and Joszi said he didn’t feel anything but experienced frequent coughs.

Pulmonary expert Dr. Abdul Alraiyes said the drill bit ended up near the base of Jozsi’s right lung where a normal scope couldn’t reach it for removal.  Jozsi expressed his concerns after doctors couldn’t reach the object with the scope: “What happens if he can’t get it out? And really, the answer was part of my lung was going to have to get removed”

“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,” Alraiyes said to KFVS.

So he decided to test out a robotic ion catheter, a medical instrument used to detect the early stages of cancer, to reach the object. The procedure was performed by Alraiyes and his team at the Aurora Medical Center in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Alraiyes and his team were successfully able to reach the drill tip since the robotic instrument easily navigated, due to its thin structure, through Joszi’s airways and removed it without harming him during the procedure.

 

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