Foreign objects in Korean prisoners.
BACKGROUND
Foreign objects in the gastrointestinal tract are usually the result of accidental swallowing. Yet foreign object ingestion is often seen in prisoners who mainly desire to leave prison. We report here on a series of 33 Korean prisoners with foreign object ingestion and they were treated endoscopically or surgically.


METHODS
We reviewed the medical records of 33 Korean prisoners (52 episodes) who were admitted due to ingestion of foreign objects between January 1998 and June 2004 to Konyang University Hospital and Gyeongsang National University Hospital.


RESULTS
All the patients were male with a mean age of 35 years. The most common duration from ingestion to the visit to the ER was within 24 hours (25/52 episodes). Most of the foreign objects were located in the esophagus (42.3%) and stomach (42.3%). The number of foreign objects was one in 28 episodes, two in 12 episodes and three or more in twelve episodes. The most common foreign objects were metal wires (26/52 episodes). The mean size of the foreign objects was 11.9 centimeters long. Successful endoscopic treatment was performed in most patients (46/52 episodes, 88.5%). The remaining six cases were treated surgically.


CONCLUSIONS
The foreign objects in prisoners were a variety of unusual things because of the prison environment, and endoscopy is a mainstay of treatment for foreign object removal in Korean prisoners.
Lee
Tae Hee
TH
Department of Internal Medicine, Konyang University College of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
Kang
Young Woo
YW
Kim
Hyun Jin
HJ
Kim
Sun Moon
SM
Im
Euyi Heog
EH
Huh
Kyu Chan
KC
Choi
Young Woo
YW
Kim
Tae Hyo
TH
Lee
Ok Jae
OJ
Jung
Un Tae
UT
D000059:Accidents; D000328:Adult; D003679:Deglutition; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000601:surgery*; D005548:Foreign-Body Migration / Q000150:complications / Q000601:surgery*; D041981:Gastrointestinal Tract / Q000293:injuries*; D006801:Humans; D007723:Korea; D008297:Male; D011329:Prisoners; D011330:Prisons; D012307:Risk Factors