Abstract
A 74-year-old woman was admitted to hospital because of the sudden onset of epigastric pain. Adbminal CT scan showed a linear calcification in the second portion to third portion of the duodenum and free air in the retroperitoneum. We undertook an emergency surgery, because physical examination revealed peritoneal signs, with a diagnosis of duodenal penetration by a foreign body. At laparotomy, we found an abscess of the side of the second portion in the back due to penetration by a foreign body through the posterior wall of the third portion of the duodenum. We removed the foreign body and sutured the site of penetration of the duodenum. The removed foreign body was 55mm in length, which we diagnosed to be from the intake of a yellowtail fish in the past and componential analysis as a fish bone. There have been only 6 cases of perforation/penetration of the duodenum by a fish bone in the Japanese literature.
