A man swallowed a bone, and 15 years later, doctors found it in his appendix
A man's appendix had to be removed, but not for dangerous inflammation, as you might expect.
The account details a case from Italy where a 45-year-old man sought emergency care due to sharp abdominal pain. Upon initial examination, doctors suspected appendicitis, an inflammation of the appendix, which could be life-threatening if the organ bursts. Despite exhibiting no signs of peritonitis, like fever or nausea, the patient's organs, including the appendix, appeared normal during an abdominal ultrasound.
Eight months later, the man returned with persistent pain, recalling that 15 years prior, he had inadvertently swallowed a piece of a bone with edible marrow. This time, an abdominal X-ray revealed a round object near his pelvis, later confirmed via CT scan to contain bone tissue near the appendix. Laparoscopic examination confirmed the appendix was enlarged, but contained a hardened fecal mass surrounding the bone, without signs of inflammation.
The surgeons performed a laparoscopic appendectomy, successfully removing the appendix and the attached bone mass. The patient recovered without complications, marking a rare case where a foreign body, in this instance a piece of bone, remained inside the appendix for over a decade without causing significant inflammation or complications.
This case highlights the rarity of such occurrences, with only a fraction of ingested foreign objects requiring surgical intervention.
Written by urgent.news from Live Science's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
