A Swedish man who inadvertently swallowed a toothpick died almost two weeks later after doctors failed to notice it was stuck in his throat.
The man, who was in his sixties, had been eating pork served with toothpicks when he accidentally swallowed one.
He did not notice at the time that it had got stuck in his oesophagus.
The toothpick became stuck in his oesophagus and he was taken to an accident and emergency unit of a hospital the following day when he had problems swallowing.
However, the doctors at the hospital in Karlskrona, southern Sweden, failed to spot the toothpick lodged in his throat and sent the patient home, 'The Local' reported.
Ten days later the elderly man was back in hospital with a hole in his windpipe and a serious infection that demanded an emergency operation.
Doctors performed emergency surgery during which the man suffered multiple hemorrhages and died the next day in a vascular clinic in Malmo, the report said.
The incident, which occurred in December last year, has been registered with Sweden's National Health Board Socialstyrelsen.
The incident was noted in a Lex Maria report, the informal name for regulations governing the reporting of injuries or incidents in the Swedish health-care system.
