Usefulness of US and Conservative Therapy Followed by Laparoscopy-Assisted Surgery for a Case with Perforation of the Small Intestine Caused by a Fish Bone

Abstract

A 76-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital complaining of persistent abdominal pain and an abdominal mass. Abdominal CT and US showed a localized intra-abdominal abscess associated with perforation of the small intestine by a fish bone. Especially, the US showed the fish bone located outside the small intestine. Because the vital signs were stable, we chose conservative treatment. Four months later, we performed laparoscopy-assisted surgery. The mass was removed with the fish bone by full-thickness small intestinal resection. The US was useful in our case, by allowing the patient to be treated by laparoscopy-assisted surgery.