Unexpected and unintentional fish bone ingestion causing acute abdomen and uncommon small intestinal perforation

Publication date: Available online 2 June 2016 Source:Advances in Digestive Medicine Author(s): Tsung-Han Yang, Chiao-Yi Lu Perforation of the mesenteric small bowel is an uncommon cause of acute abdomen in the emergency department. Early diagnosis is difficult owing to unspecific clinical presentations. The most common causes of perforation are tumor, trauma, Crohn's disease, ischemia, and foreign body ingestion. Currently, computed tomography (CT) is often the initial modality used to assess patients with acute abdomen, and the excellent anatomic details it provides, including segmental bowel wall thickening, mesenteric air bubbles, and fatty infiltration, may help the clinician to diagnose earlier and with greater ease. Here, we present a case of acute abdomen diagnosed as small bowel perforation due to unintentional fish bone ingestion using multidetector CT. The multiplanar reconstruction images from multidetector CT helped locate the perforation site before surgical intervention.
Source: Advances in Digestive Medicine - Category: Gastroenterology Source Type: research