title: Late presentation of an intra-abdominal foreign body.
abstract: Bowel obstruction by a foreign body is rare. The authors describe the case of a 77-year-old woman who had small-bowel obstruction due to a foreign body 40 years after a transabdominal hysterectomy. A loop of small bowel had herniated through a metal ring and had become necrotic. The ring and involved bowel were excised and the patient's clinical course was uncomplicated. The original purpose of the ring remains a mystery. The time frame between the introduction of a foreign body and the occurrence of symptoms in this case appears to be the longest ever reported.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, McGill University, Montreal, Que.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Quantz
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007044:Hysterectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000295:instrumentation; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D007421:Intestine, Small