A 23-year-old woman has issued a stern warning to others after an impacted wisdom tooth nearly killed her.
Caitlin Alsop was a healthy woman, apart from a persistent rash on her face, she had no significant health concerns.
However, what seemed like a minor issue soon turned into a medical emergency that nearly cost her her life.
“I went to a couple of doctors but I didn’t really think there was anything going on, and then I ended up with some flu-like symptoms,” Alsop shared with News.com.au.
Initially dismissed as the flu by her general practitioner, Alsop experienced a fever, sore throat, and ear pain.
Following her doctor’s advice, she took it easy, believing rest would resolve the symptoms.
But when Alsop’s condition appeared to improve, it took a sudden turn for the worse. While out to dinner with a friend, she felt as though she had bitten her tongue.
Within hours, her tongue had swollen to the point where she was drooling and struggling to breathe and speak.
Alarmed, Alsop texted her family, suspecting an allergic reaction. However, when she couldn’t swallow antihistamines, they rushed her to the hospital.
Once at the hospital, doctors initially believed Alsop was experiencing anaphylaxis, administering two shots of adrenaline. However, her condition deteriorated rapidly; she faded in and out of consciousness, and a severe rash spread across the upper half of her body.
Alsop was transferred to Gold Coast University Hospital, where she became a "medical mystery."
Her tongue blackened, and doctors feared she might have necrotizing fasciitis. To stabilize her condition, they performed an endotracheal intubation and admitted her to the intensive care unit.
Alsop’s skin appeared to be burning from the inside out, leading one anaesthetist to suspect Ludwig’s angina, a life-threatening condition involving severe infection in the mouth and neck.
A CT scan eventually revealed the source of Alsop's life-threatening condition was an impacted and infected wisdom tooth.
“I had no pain, no symptoms, and this nearly killed me overnight. It’s absolutely crazy,” Alsop said.
Emergency surgery was performed to remove the tooth, and additional procedures were required to relieve pressure on her jugular vein.
Alsop was placed in a medically induced coma for nine days.
It wasn’t until a year later that Alsop fully understood how close she came to death. Her infection had progressed to sepsis, a severe and often fatal response to infection that can cause tissue and organ damage.
“Like so many young people, I had no idea an infection could lead to this. I was walking around, and then I was literally burning from the inside out in the ICU as a medical mystery,” she said.
Determined to raise awareness, Alsop has since founded the Face Sepsis project, an educational initiative aimed at helping primary care practitioners recognize the early signs of sepsis.
Symptoms of sepsis can include fever, shivering, muscle pain, confusion, rapid breathing, discolored skin, and a fast heart rate, per the NHS.
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