A CASE OF PERFORATION OF THE SMALL INTESTINE DUE TO A LITTLE PAPER-THIN WOODEN PLATE WITH A BEAN-JAM BUN

• Published in: Nihon Rinsho Geka Gakkai Zasshi (Journal of Japan Surgical Association) Vol. 66; no. 10; pp. 2459 - 2463
• Main Authors: ISHIDO, Nobuhiro, MIZUNO, Kenji, OGAWA, Ryunosuke, NAKAGAWA, Koichi, OE, Shinya, HASHIMOTO, Masaaki
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan Surgical Association 25.10.2005
• ISSN: 1345-2843; 1882-5133
• DOI: 10.3919/jjsa.66.2459

A case of perforation of the small intestine is reported. A 58-year-old male patient with schizophrenia who had performed ‘hara-kiri’ a long time before admission was brought into the hospital by ambulance due to severe right hypochondralgia. The small intestinal niveau was seen in a plain abdominal X-ray film. A localized pneumoperitoneum in a part of the mesentery was detected by abdominal CT scan. Emergency surgery was performed. There were many intestinal adhesions due to the ‘hara-kiri’ and an isolated abscess in the adhered mesentery. A perforated part of the intestine by the abscess was caused by a paper-thin wooden plate from a Japanese bean-jam bun. The injured intestine was resected. The patient was discharged 14 days after the surgery without any complications. The most common dietary habits-related foreign bodies resulting in intestinal perforation are fish bones in Japan and chicken bones and toothpicks in Europe and America. Recently, many cases of intestinal perforation due to swallowed press-through tablet packages have been reported. But there have been a few reports of intestinal perforation due to non-sharp and elastic-soft foreign bodies such as the paper-thin wooden plate. We suggest that anything the patient could swallow accidentally should be removed beforehand from their foods to prevent such accidents.