Intestinal perforation caused by incidental ingestion of a fish bone.

Sagrario Maria Santos Seoane

Abstract

Intestinal perforations by fish bones are very rare. Most of the foreign bodies that are ingested advance through the intestinal tract without causing complications, especially if they pass the oesophagus. Only less than 1% causes intestinal perforation and is often long, sharp objects such as toothpicks, spines, chicken bones, or needles. They can occur at any point in the digestive tract, but are more common in segments with a closed angle such as pylorus, Treitz angle, distal ileum, and recto-sigmoid junction.