title: Peritonitis with small bowel perforation caused by a fish bone in a healthy patient.
abstract: Perforation of the gastrointestinal tract by ingested foreign bodies is extremely rare in otherwise healthy patients, accounting for < 1% of cases. Accidentally ingested foreign bodies could cause small bowel perforation through a hernia sac, Meckel's diverticulum, or the appendix, all of which are uncommon. Despite their sharp ends and elongated shape, bowel perforation caused by ingested fish bones is rarely reported, particularly in patients without intestinal disease. We report a case of 57-year-old female who visited the emergency room with periumbilical pain and no history of underlying intestinal disease or intra-abdominal surgery. Abdominal computed tomography and exploratory laparotomy revealed a small bowel micro-perforation with a 2.7-cm fish bone penetrating the jejunal wall.
authors.affiliation: Yonghoon Choi, Dongkeun Kim, Dongju Kim, Department of Internal Medicine, Sahmyook Seoul Hospital, Seoul 130711, South Korea.
authors.forename: Yonghoon
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Yonghoon Choi, Dongkeun Kim, Dongju Kim, Department of Internal Medicine, Sahmyook Seoul Hospital, Seoul 130711, South Korea.
authors.forename: Gyuwon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Yonghoon Choi, Dongkeun Kim, Dongju Kim, Department of Internal Medicine, Sahmyook Seoul Hospital, Seoul 130711, South Korea.
authors.forename: Chansup
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.affiliation: Yonghoon Choi, Dongkeun Kim, Dongju Kim, Department of Internal Medicine, Sahmyook Seoul Hospital, Seoul 130711, South Korea.
authors.forename: Dongkeun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Yonghoon Choi, Dongkeun Kim, Dongju Kim, Department of Internal Medicine, Sahmyook Seoul Hospital, Seoul 130711, South Korea.
authors.forename: Dongju
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001842:Bone and Bones; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D005399:Fishes; D005547:Foreign Bodies; D006801:Humans; D007416:Intestinal Perforation / Q000150:complications*; D007583:Jejunum / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010538:Peritonitis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: Fish bone; Foreign body; Japanese red rock fish; Peritonitis; Small bowel perforation