What began as a routine dental visit landed an Illinois man in a Kenosha hospital after he inhaled the dentist’s drill bit.A rare medical procedure was performed to remove the sharp metal object lodged in the patient’s lung. The CT scan tells the shocking story. An inch-long dental drill bit was lodged deep in Tom Jozsi’s lung.”How did this happen?” WISN 12’s Kent Wainscott asked him.”Well, I don’t know. I was at the dentist getting a tooth filled, and then next thing I know I was told I swallowed this tool,” Jozsi said. “I didn’t really even feel it going down. All I felt was a cough. When they did the CT scan they realized, you didn’t swallow it. You inhaled it.”Doctors believe that inhaling just before he coughed sent the metal object deep into the 60-year-old maintenance worker’s airways. It went so deep, pulmonary expert Dr. Abdul Alraiyes said, that normal scopes couldn’t reach it.”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.”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.That’s when Alraiyes and the Aurora Medical Center-Kenosha team decided to try a newer device — one not designed for removing foreign objects.”It’s more for early detection of cancer, especially lung cancer,” Alraiyes said.”But you knew you could use it for this?” Wainscott asked.”Exactly right. The reason is this. The size of this catheter,” Alraiyes said.Video of the scan shows the medical team was able to navigate the narrow airways, reach the drill piece and pull it out without any harm to the patient.”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,” Jozsi said.Joszki said he now keeps the tool on a shelf at home.Alraiyes told WISN 12 he has heard from colleagues in Michigan and Ohio who report seeing cases nearly identical to this.
What began as a routine dental visit landed an Illinois man in a Kenosha hospital after he inhaled the dentist’s drill bit.
A rare medical procedure was performed to remove the sharp metal object lodged in the patient’s lung.
The CT scan tells the shocking story.
An inch-long dental drill bit was lodged deep in Tom Jozsi’s lung.
“How did this happen?” WISN 12’s Kent Wainscott asked him.
“Well, I don’t know. I was at the dentist getting a tooth filled, and then next thing I know I was told I swallowed this tool,” Jozsi said. “I didn’t really even feel it going down. All I felt was a cough. When they did the CT scan they realized, you didn’t swallow it. You inhaled it.”
Doctors believe that inhaling just before he coughed sent the metal object deep into the 60-year-old maintenance worker’s airways.
It went so deep, pulmonary expert Dr. Abdul Alraiyes said, that normal scopes couldn’t reach it.
“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.
“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.
That’s when Alraiyes and the Aurora Medical Center-Kenosha team decided to try a newer device — one not designed for removing foreign objects.
“It’s more for early detection of cancer, especially lung cancer,” Alraiyes said.
“But you knew you could use it for this?” Wainscott asked.
“Exactly right. The reason is this. The size of this catheter,” Alraiyes said.
Video of the scan shows the medical team was able to navigate the narrow airways, reach the drill piece and pull it out without any harm to the patient.
“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,” Jozsi said.
Joszki said he now keeps the tool on a shelf at home.
Alraiyes told WISN 12 he has heard from colleagues in Michigan and Ohio who report seeing cases nearly identical to this.
