Case Report
Copyright ©2013 Baishideng Publishing Group Co., Limited. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jun 28, 2013; 19(24): 3892-3894
Published online Jun 28, 2013. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i24.3892
Foreign body impaction in the sigmoid colon: A twenty euro bet
Katalin E Müller, András Arató, Péter László Lakatos, Mária Papp, Gábor Veres
Katalin E Müller, András Arató, Gábor Veres, 1st Department of Pediatrics, Semmelweis University, 1083 Budapest, Hungary
Péter László Lakatos, 1st Department of Medicine, Semmelweis University, 1083 Budapest, Hungary
Mária Papp, 2nd Department of Medicine, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Author contributions: Müller KE collected data and prepared the manuscript; Arató A critically revised the manuscript; Lakatos PL interpreted clinical data and critically revised the manuscript; Papp M interpreted clinical data and revised the manuscript; Veres G collected data, supervised preparation of the manuscript and critically revised the manuscript.
Supported by János Bolyai Research Grant, to Veres G; A Hungarian Scientific Research Fund Grant, No. OTKA-K 105530
Correspondence to: Gábor Veres, MD, PhD, 1st Department of Paediatrics, Semmelweis University, 53 Bokay Street, 1083 Budapest, Hungary. vergab@gyer1.sote.hu
Telephone: +36-20-8258163 Fax: +36-1-3036077
Received: July 23, 2012
Revised: October 26, 2012
Accepted: November 14, 2012
Published online: June 28, 2013
Processing time: 340 Days and 9.1 Hours
Abstract

Foreign body ingestion is a common clinical problem in early childhood. However, it may occur even in adults, unknowingly. Most ingested foreign bodies entering the stomach pass through the gastrointestinal tract uneventfully. Here we report on a 13-year-old boy who presented with chronic abdominal pain, weight loss and occult gastrointestinal bleeding for 6 mo. Colonoscopy was negative; however, a ballpoint pen was impacted in the sigmoid region. Subsequently, the child admitted swallowing a pen as a 20-euro bet 6 mo previously. Crohn’s disease is a chronic relapsing inflammatory gastrointestinal disease. It is often difficult to diagnose due to the fact that there is no single pathognomonic sign or symptom. This case is a description of an adolescent with chronic gastrointestinal symptoms due to a foreign body. Therefore, an ingested foreign body should be included in the differential diagnostic procedure related to gastrointestinal symptoms.

Keywords: Foreign bodies; Pen; Differential diagnosis; Crohn’s disease; Child