(CNN) - Doctors in Australia had to surgically remove dental wire from a woman's small intestine, ten years after she swallowed it.
Doctors said the 30-year-old woman showed up at an emergency room complaining of cramping and severe abdominal pain.
She was treated and released.
Two days later, she returned to the emergency room, again complaining of extreme pain.
Doctors did a CT scan and discovered an object had punctured several places in the woman's small intestine.
She had not worn orthodontic braces for 10 years, but after surgery, doctors found what had perforated her bowel.
A seven-centimeter piece of wire, presumably from her braces.
The incident was reported in a study published Monday in the medical journal BMJ Case Reports.
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