Tracking the foreign body, a rare cause of hepatic abscess

Abstract

BackgroundForeign body ingestion complicated by perforation of the digestive tract is a well-known occurrence. Contrary to this, perforation by fishbones has most often been described in South East Asian populations, and has the unusual characteristic of often being paucisymptomatic until secondary complications occur.Case presentationWe report the case of a 56 year-old man of asian origin who presented with a liver abscess of unknown origin, complicated by septic shock with multiorgan failure. He was later found to have a fishbone impacted in the left lobe of the liver, which had perforated the stomach and gone by unnoticed until presentation. The fishbone was extracted through laparotomy and the abscess was drained.ConclusionThis report highlights a cause of liver abscesses which is likely underreported in Northern European populations and which, although rare in occurrence, should be part of our diagnostic algorithm of “cryptogenic abscesses” since surgical removal of the foreign object as drainage warrant definitive treatment.

Erratum: Tracking the foreign body, a rare cause of hepatic abscess

“…After publication of this Case Report [ 1 ], we noticed a mistake in the order of the authors. Carole Dangoisse was meant to be the first author on this article and Pierre-François Laterre the last author.…”

Intraluminal Apple as a Rare Cause of Small Bowel Obstruction

“…Intraluminal foreign bodies can manifest secondary to swallowing [3, 4] or via rectal insertion [5, 6]. Abdominal foreign body related complications include intestinal obstruction, gastrointestinal tract perforations, peritonitis, and hepatic abscesses [7, 8]. Once the object passes through the pylorus, it usually spontaneously reaches the rectum without morbidity.…”

Hepatic abscess in the Spiegel lobe caused by foreign body penetration: report of a case report

“…The first case of a liver abscess because of gastrointestinal perforation by migration of a foreign body was reported in 1898 [ 3 , 4 ]. A fishbone is the most frequent cause, accounting for approximately 40% of cases [ 3 ].…”