Abstract
We report a case of hepatic abscess caused by a fish bone penetrating the gastric wall.
A 72-year-old man was admitted to our hospital because of high fever and malaise. Abdominal ultrasonography and abdominal CT scan showed a 3.5-cm sized abscess with strong internal echoes like a needle in the lateral segment of the liver. Gastric endoscopy revealed mild edema and erosion like findings on the lesser curvature at the angular incisure. Hepatic abscess due to a foreign body, especially a fish bone, penetrating the stomach was diagnosed. Following improvement of the hepatic abscess by conservative therapy including administration of antibiotics, removal of the foreign body was performed under laparoscopy. The foreign body was fish bone. The postoperative course was satisfactory without noteworthy complications.
Few cases of hepatic abscess caused by fish bones penetrating the gastric wall have been reported. In this case CT examination was very helpful to make the diagnosis and laparoscopic surgery, which is minimally invasive and enables us to magnify the lesion, was useful to remove the foreign body.
