2023 Volume 43 Issue 7 Pages 1081-1084
A woman in her 80s who had received treatment for pleuritis at a previous hospital was referred to our department with a mass in the left lower abdomen. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) showed an iso-density mass measuring 47 mm in diameter with a linear high-density area inside. We diagnosed the patient as having an intra-abdominal abscess caused by penetration of a fishbone without pan-peritonitis, and performed CT-guided drainage. The patient was discharged after 10 days. Three months later, she was readmitted for a recurrent abscess, and underwent drainage again; this time, she was diagnosed as having a bladder fistula. Finally, we performed laparoscopic removal of the wall of the abscess with the fishbone, located just below the abdominal wall and bladder and adjacent to the sigmoid colon. We ultimately diagnosed the patient as a case of an intra-abdominal abscess caused by fishbone penetration of the sigmoid colon. The patient was discharged four days postoperatively.
