Article Text
Summary
Intentional ingestion of a foreign body in adults is a rare clinical presentation. This case is one of a 27-year-old Sudanese man who presented having swallowed a ballpoint pen intentionally. Clinical examination and plain chest radiograph exhibited no signs indicative of perforation with only a raised C reactive protein identified on blood tests. Subsequent gastroscopy revealed that the pen had simultaneously perforated the duodenum at both D1 and D3 requiring removal via a laparotomy. The patient fully recovered and was discharged 2 weeks postoperatively following psychiatric input.
- general surgery
- gastrointestinal surgery
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Footnotes
Contributors AWG: literature search and writing report. RWR: literature search and editing. RJC: consultant involved in patient care. MCA: consultant involved in patient care.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent Obtained.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.