Abstract
A 74-year-old male presented with right lower abdominal pain. A physical examination revealed symptoms of peritonitis in the right lower abdomen. Abdominal CT showed a high density line in the ileum, accompanied by local peritonitis. Based on these findings we made the diagnosis of local peritonitis due to intestinal penetration caused by an ingested fish bone. Conservative therapy with antibiotics was employed and the patient's abdominal pain was relieved with lessening of the abdominal tenderness. On the 5th hospital day, CT showed that the fish bone had moved into the ascending colon and we allowed oral intake. On the 11th hospital day, CT showed the disappearance of the fish bone from the abdomen, indicating that the fish bone had been excreted from the intestinal tract. There have been few cases treated with conservative therapy for penetration of the small intestine caused by an ingested fish bone. In the present case, CT was useful for the diagnosis and the follow-up.
