Incarceration of the tongue by impaction of a pacifier - Case report

A four-month-old baby incarcerated his tongue due to impaction of a pacifier in the oropharynx. The tongue was pushed forward by the impacted pacifier. This led the tongue to be edematous and incarcerated secondary to decreased venous return. We inserted a metallic tongue depressor to depress the tongue and used 3 kellies to remove the pacifier under general anesthesia. The swollen tongue gradually returned to normal. This is the first case reported in the literature. The mechanism of incarceration of the tongue caused by impaction of a pacifier is also discussed.