A CASE OF FOREIGN BODIES IN THE APPENDIX MANAGED ENDOSCOPICALLY

Abstract

A 52-year-old woman was admitted to our department because she had swallowed four pins. Abdominal CT revealed that there was one pin in stomach and three in the jejunum. We immediately extracted one pin from her stomach endoscopically. On the next day, the other three pins had moved to the appendix, cecum and transverse colon. We succeeded in easily extracting two pins from the colon via endoscopy. The last pin in the appendix was however difficult to find using only endoscopy, so we performed retrograde appendicography using a contrast medium together with endoscopy, allowing us to extract the pin safely. Previous reports of foreign bodies in the appendix are very rare. Surgical treatment is generally undertaken for foreign bodies in the appendix, because they cause appendicitis and perforation. This is the first report of endoscopic treatment for a foreign body in the appendix.