Sarno – Swallows a chicken bone and risks stomach perforation: saved in extremis. A 61-year-old man risked serious complications after accidentally swallowing a chicken bone. He was saved thanks to timely emergency intervention at the Martiri del Villa Malta hospital in Sarno, led by Dr. Sergio Di Fenza, head of the Endoscopy department, together with his team.
The patient had gone to the emergency room complaining of acute and persistent abdominal pain for several days. Diagnostic tests identified a sharp foreign body lodged in the gastric mucosa, with a high risk of internal lesions and perforation. The tests revealed that it was a chicken bone. A subsequent esophagogastroduodenoscopy, performed under sedation, allowed it to be located in the most distal part of the stomach, the gastric antrum, near the pyloric sphincter, the valve that regulates the passage to the small intestine.
The foreign body was successfully removed using rigid forceps. To avoid further complications, doctors applied metal clips to the lesion caused by the bone, in order to close the breach in the gastric wall. The risks, the doctors explain, were multiple: perforation or hemorrhage of the duodenum, lesions to the esophagus during removal, migration of the bone towards the intestine with possible occlusion and, in the most serious cases, liver complications. Thanks to the promptness and effectiveness of the intervention, the patient was discharged in good health after a few days of observation.
Article published on May 13, 2025 - 17:30 pm
