Almost all foreign matter in the gastrointestinal tract is excreted naturally, but in rare cases it may cause peritonitis, abscess from perforation and penetration of the gastrointestinal tract. In Japan there are many digestive tract punctures due to fish bones because of dietary habits. Three cases of fish bone aspiration experienced at our hospital are reported here because they follow different onset patterns. Case 1 was an 88-year-old man with emergency transport to our hospital with left lower abdominal pain, and as a result of examination it was diagnosed as descending colon penetration by a fish bone. Partial descending colon resection by Hartmann's operation was performed. Case 2 was an 87-year-old woman who visited our hospital with right hypochondralgia from the previous day. She was diagnosed with small intestinal penetration by a fish bone on CT. We performed laparoscopic surgery several days later and found that the fish bone had left the small intestine and fallen into the abdominal cavity. The fish bone was retrieved, and the inside of the abdominal cavity was cleaned. Case 3 was a 75-year-old man with left lower abdominal pain for more than 1 month before visiting our hospital. Abdominal pain worsened after several days, and an emergency operation was performed on a diagnosis of abdominal wall abscess caused by a fish bone. It is thought that accurate diagnosis before surgery and appropriate surgery according to the case, and especially proper retrieval of the fish bone are important.
