Bone Causing Abdominal Groans

Pradeep Goyal; Sonali Gupta; Joshua Sapire

doi:10.1016/j.jemermed.2019.06.013

Bone Causing Abdominal Groans

J Emerg Med. 2019 Sep;57(3):e95-e97. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2019.06.013. Epub 2019 Aug 1.

Authors

Pradeep Goyal¹, Sonali Gupta², Joshua Sapire¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Radiology, St. Vincent's Medical Center, Bridgeport, Connecticut; The Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, North Haven, Connecticut.
² The Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, North Haven, Connecticut; Department of Medicine, St. Vincent's Medical Center, Bridgeport, Connecticut.

PMID: 31378443
DOI: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2019.06.013

Abstract

Gastrointestinal complications secondary to fish bone ingestion are rare, however important to recognize in timely manner to prevent morbidity and mortality. Diagnosis is often challenging in setting of non-specific and variable symptoms and lack of history of fish bone ingestion. Diagnostic imaging particularly computed tomography is crucial for diagnosis. However, emphasis should be given on identifying underlying cause of abdominal complications because fish bone is often missed unless specifically looked for. Identification of fish bone is essential for extraction of the inciting nidus. Emergency physician should be aware of this entity to identify it and triage the patients in timely manner. We describe here cases of sub-capsular liver abscess and acute cholecystitis caused by fish bone ingestion. The fish bone as a cause of these complication was initially missed in emergency.

Keywords: acute cholecystitis; fish bone; liver abscess.

Publication types

Case Reports

MeSH terms

Aged
Bone and Bones*
Cholecystitis, Acute / etiology*
Diagnosis, Differential
Foreign-Body Migration / complications*
Humans
Liver Abscess / etiology*
Male
Seafood