title: An Interesting Cause of Mechanical Small Bowel Obstruction.
abstract: Foreign body ingestion is a known cause of abdominal pain in pediatric population occurring between 6 months and 3 years of age (Wyllie Curr Opin Pediatr 18:563, 2006, Uyemura Am Fam Physician 72:287, 2005, Banerjee Indian J Pediatr 72:173, 2005). Most of the ingested foreign bodies pass spontaneously with 10-20 % requiring endoscopic retrieval, and <1 % of cases require a surgical intervention (Wyllie Curr Opin Pediatr 18:563, 2006, Uyemura Am Fam Physician 72:287, 2005, Shivakumar Indian J Pediatr 71:689, 2004). Presence of intestinal obstruction necessitates surgical intervention to extract the ingested foreign body. Initial abdominal plain radiograph should be obtained when foreign body ingestion is suspected, which differentiates a radiopaque from radiolucent foreign bodies. A computed tomography with 3D reconstruction (3D-CT) is recommended with radiolucent foreign bodies (Uyemura Am Fam Physician 72:287, 2005, Kazam Am J Emerg Med 23:897, 2005). After 24 h of expectant management, failure of spontaneous passage requires further intervention. Timely intervention to relieve the obstruction is pivotal to prevent undue complications. We present an interesting case of a boy who ingested a radiolucent foreign body diagnosed on 3D-CT, successfully treated with surgical extraction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Hofstra-NSLIJ School of Medicine, 300 Community Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030 USA.
authors.forename: Sandeep
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Anantha Sathyanarayana
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Hofstra-NSLIJ School of Medicine, 300 Community Drive, Manhasset, NY 11030 USA.
authors.forename: Gary B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Deutsch
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Hofstra-NSLIJ School of Medicine, Manhasset, NY USA.
authors.forename: Barak
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Friedman
keywords: Foreign body; Gastrointestinal foreign bodies; Pediatric bowel obstruction; Radiolucent foreign body; Small bowel obstruction