title: A granulomatous liver abscess which developed after a toothpick penetrated the gastrointestinal tract: report of a case.
abstract: An unusual case of a toothpick perforating the stomach, then penetrating the liver, and thereafter forming a liver abscess is reported. A 48-year-old woman who had ingested a toothpick 1 month earlier was admitted to our hospital because of severe epigastralgia which had progressively worsened. A laparotomy was performed because a granulomatous abscess in the liver due to this ingested foreign body was suspected. We found a granulomatous abscess in the liver due to the penetration of the toothpick through the stomach. The toothpick had become completely embedded about 2 cm deep in the left lobe of the liver. When dissecting the tumor, a 5.5-cm toothpick was removed, and a partial lateral resection of the liver was performed. The histological diagnosis was a hepatic abscess with granulomatous change. This was a rare case of a migration of an ingested toothpick into the liver through the stomach.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Ishikawa General Hospital, 784 Bessho, Himeji, Hyogo 671-0221, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigeo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanazawa
authors.forename: Katsu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ishigaki
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyake
authors.forename: Atsuhisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tabuchi
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanemoto
authors.forename: Tsukasa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsunoda
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D005548:Foreign-Body Migration / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D006099:Granuloma / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008100:Liver Abscess / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D013270:Stomach