Case Report: Cholecystitis and gastric perforation caused by a fishbone and treated by laparoscopic surgery

Rare cases of swallowed fish bones leading to cholecystitis and gastric perforation have been reported. Here, we present the case of a 71-year-old male patient who experienced 10 days of right upper quadrant pain after eating fish. Laparoscopic repair of gastric perforation and cholecystectomy was performed and successfully removed a fishbone of 3 cm in length from the region between the gallbladder cavity and the gastric antrum. The patient was 10 days after surgery and recovered well. No sign of recurrence was observed at the 3-month follow-up.

A Case Report on Fish Bone Perforating Meckel’s Diverticulum Mimicking Appendicitis

Meckel’s diverticulum (MD) is the most frequent congenital abnormality of the digestive tract. Although it is silent, it can rarely come up as a complicated case including but not limited to obstruction, inflammation, and neoplasm. Perforation as a consequence of MD is extremely infrequent and mostly related to foreign objects. We report a case of a 24-year-old man who presented to the emergency department with signs and symptoms suggestive of acute appendicitis. Computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen demonstrated foreign body perforation from a protrusion outside the small bowel. The patient underwent laparoscopy and a fish bone perforating MD was found which was removed.

Fish bone perforation of the small bowel: A case report

INTRODUCTION

Fish bone is one of the most common accidently ingested foreign bodies. Normally, it is eliminated from the gastrointestinal (GI) system without any symptomatology, only 1% of the cases will develop a perforation of the GI tract requiring surgical intervention.

PRESENTATION OF CASE

A 70-year-old man, presented with a 48h evolving abdominal pain, important abdominal distension, nausea, vomiting, and a last bowel movement reported 2 days ago, The abdomino-pelvic CT-scan objectified a distension of the terminal ileum measured at 30mm, The exploration revealed a sharp foreign body,at the 15 proximal centimeters of the terminal ileum, which penetrated through the wall of the ileum. The foreign body was removed and we noticed that it is a fish bone. The patient recovered well.

DISCUSSION

Clinical manifestations are determined by the location of the perforation and the preoperative diagnosis is always difficult to reach. Computed tomography (CT) scan is the indicated method to identify ingested foreign bodies and surgery is the treatment of choice.

CONCLUSION

Delay in diagnosis and treatment can be associated with significant morbidity and mortality.

A case of a common bile duct stone that formed around a fish bone as a nidus after distal gastrectomy with Roux-en-Y reconstruction

Background

The presence of a foreign body in the common bile duct (CBD) is a rare phenomenon. Thus, the route and mechanism of its migration remain difficult to fully clarify, especially for cases that occur after gastrectomy with Roux-en-Y reconstruction. Herein, we present a case of a CBD stone that formed around a fish bone as a nidus subsequent to distal gastrectomy with Roux-en-Y reconstruction.

Case presentation

A 70-year-old man was admitted to our hospital due to repeated episodes of epigastralgia. He had undergone distal gastrectomy with Roux-en-Y reconstruction for gastric cancer approximately 10 years prior. Blood tests revealed obstructive jaundice, hepatobiliary dysfunction, and inflammation. Multi-plane reconstructed computed tomography (CT) revealed a CBD stone with a needle-shaped calcification density at the center, oriented along the length of the CBD. Surgery was performed using an upper median laparotomy approach. Lithotomy with choledochotomy was performed to remove one fragile bilirubin stone that had formed around a 3-cm, needle-shaped fish bone. A choledochoduodenal fistula was not detected intraoperatively. A review of the imaging of a prior examination revealed that the formation of the CBD stone around the fish bone was observable on a follow-up CT performed approximately 2 years prior. However, no clinical symptoms associated with the migration of the fish bone to the CBD were reported and the fish bone was not detected at that time.

Conclusion

In this case, transpapillary migration of the fish bone could only be speculated in the absence of an observable fistula, choledochostomy, or any clinical symptoms. Our case is clinically relevant as cholangitis developed after CBD stone formation around the fish bone that acted as a nidus.