%0 Journal Article
%T Toothpick Colon Injury Mimicking Colonic Diverticulitis
%A Hwan Namgung
%A Min Hyeong Jo
%J Archive of "Annals of Coloproctology".
%D 2018
%R 10.3393/ac.2018.04.23
%X Although toothpick ingestion is rare, it can lead to fatal complications in the gastrointestinal tract. Diagnosing toothpick ingestion is difficult because most patients do not recall swallowing one. We report 2 cases of toothpick-ingestion-induced colon injury, mimicking diverticulitis. The first patient was a 47-year-old male who had received conservative treatment under the impression of his having diverticulitis in the cecum. Ultrasonography revealed a linear foreign body in the right lower abdomen; a subsequent laparoscopic examination revealed inflammation around the cecum, but no evidence of bowel perforation. A thorough investigation revealed a toothpick embedded in the subcutaneous fat and muscle layer of the lower abdominal wall; we removed it. The second patient was a 56-year-old male who had received conservative treatment under the impression of his having diverticulitis in the sigmoid colon. An explorative laparotomy revealed a toothpick piercing the sigmoid colon; we performed an anterior resection. Both patients were discharged without postoperative complications
%K Toothpick
%K Colon
%K Injury
%U https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6046542/