Endoscopic removal of throat-packing gauze swallowed during general anesthesia.

Throat packing is commonly placed in the pharynx before starting oral and maxillofacial surgery under general anesthesia to protect the airway from aspiration of blood and surgical debris. Complications such as airway obstruction may arise if any of the throat packing is retained after extubation, and less commonly, swallowing of the throat packing has been reported. We report endoscopic removal of throat packing gauze swallowed during general anesthesia.