Doctors baffled as teen athlete got sicker. Then they found the toothpick, study says

As a professional athlete grew sicker and sicker, baffled doctors tried to find the reason why.

It would take three weeks and multiple hospital trips before the culprit was discovered: a 3-inch toothpick, according to a case study in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Fabian J. Scheid, one of those doctors and co-author of the case study, told The New York Times that this study confirmed his fears about toothpicks.

The case study says the 18-year-old athlete, whom doctors did not identify, was first admitted to a hospital in the southeastern U.S., where he was training with his team. He had “loose stools” and nausea, the study says, but was released after doctors couldn’t find a cause.

Two weeks later, the athlete was in the western U.S. with his team and began to experience worsened symptoms, which had dissipated after his first hospital visit, the study says.

He had a fever of 103 degrees Fahrenheit, blood in stools and back pain, the study says. So he sought treatment at a second hospital.

Compared to his first hospital visit, the athlete’s pulse beats per minute had nearly doubled to 110 and he had a sore lower abdomen. An MRI did not find the toothpick, but it did reveal “fluid-filled loops of small bowel in the left half of the abdomen and the presence of air–fluid levels in the rectum,” according to the case study.

After he was given pain medicine and an IV, the symptoms became “resolved” and he went back to New England for treatment at the behest of an employee with his team, the study says.

But his fever and bloody stools persisted, with his temperature remaining around 103 degrees Fahrenheit. He was sent to the emergency room at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital, the study says, where he complained of dizziness and feeling tired.

While at the Massachusetts General Hospital, his fever peaked at 105 degrees Fahrenheit, the study says. Blood tests found the bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae in the athlete’s system, the study says, and a colonoscopy found a toothpick in his colon.

Doctors took the toothpick from the athlete’s colon, which caused bleeding that required additional surgeries. The study says the toothpick led to an infection that damaged his right common iliac artery, which was repaired using part of the superficial femoral vein from the leg.

“The patient did well after surgery and was discharged on the 10th hospital day, 6 days after the second surgery,” the study says. “At the time of discharge, he was able to walk without assistance.”

Following a long rehab program, the athlete has now recovered, the study says.

“Seven months after his injury, he played in his first professional game,” the study says, “and he continues to have a substantial role in his sport.”

And how did he end up with a toothpick puncturing an artery?

The athlete later said he remembered munching on a “sandwich that did not go down so well,” which might have contained the toothpick, as reported by The New York Times.

This case bears a striking resemblance to an episode of “House,” when an ailing teen’s deteriorating health leaves doctors scrambling for answers — until a colonoscopy found a toothpick wedged in his colon.

It’s a deadly situation. As noted by the study, about 10 percent of those who swallow a toothpick die from internal injuries.