title: A case of intestinal obstruction due to phytobezoar--an alternative surgical approach.
abstract: We report a 5-year-old patient with phytobezoar mimicking acute appendicitis preoperatively. During laparotomy, it was detected that terminal ileum was obstructed by several fragments of rubbery material. Bezoar was milked into the large bowel, and phytobezoar including tangerine residues was evacuated via appendix stump because of severe distended cecum, and high risk of the anastomotic leakage and intraperitoneal contamination following enterotomy of the inflamated and ischemic ileum. Postoperative course was uneventful. To date, such a procedure has not been described. We suggest that milking of vegetable fibers into the cecum and then emptying via appendix stump may be an alternative treatment of phytobezoar localizing in terminal ileum.
authors.affiliation: Akdeniz University School of Medicine, Department of Pediatric Surgery, Antalya, Turkey. adnan@med.akdeniz.edu.tr
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aslan
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Unal
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Karagüzel
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Melikoğlu
mesh_terms: D001062:Appendectomy / Q000379:methods*; D001630:Bezoars; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007077:Ileal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D007082:Ileum / Q000098:blood supply / Q000601:surgery*; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000601:surgery*; D007511:Ischemia / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D011859:Radiography