Abstract
Small bowel obstruction caused by anisakiasis is a relatively rare disease that is difficult to diagnose, and many cases undergo open surgery due to acute abdomen. We report 6 cases with small bowel anisakiasis, which were medically treated based on the recent history of raw seafood intake and abdominal CT findings. All patients developed abdominal pain after one to three days having eaten seafood. Patients' age, gender, and causative foods were: [case 1] a 54-yearold man ,a raw pacific saury. [case 2] a 63-year-old man, raw mackerel. [case 3] a 57-year-old man, undetermined raw fish. [case 4] a 36-year-old man, a raw bonito. [case 5] a 63-year-old woman, a raw pacific saury. [case 6] a 55-year-old man, marinated mackerel. In all these cases, abdominal CT at presentation demonstrated focal thickening and stenosis of the small intestine with wall enhancement, dilatation of the small intestine at the oral side of the stenosis, and accumulation of ascites. They were recovered without surgical opration. We confirmed the diagnosis with the elevation of serum anti-anisakis specific antibody. Clinicians should be aware of small bowel anisakiasis when the patients have severe abdominal pain, recent history of raw seafood intake and specific contrast-enhanced CT findings.
