PENETRATION OF THE SIGMOID COLON BY A DENTURE WITH CLASP

Ingested foreign bodies are often found in the esophagus and the upper digestive tract. Most are discharged spontaneously without special excision. Recently the development of endoscopy has enabled excision of the foreign bodies which are not discharged spontaneously. However we sometimes have to carry out surgical treatment when the location and shape of foreign body induces severe complications such as the perforation or penetration of the bowel. We report a case of a penetration due to an ingested denture. An 80-year-old woman came to our hospital having ingested a denture. X-ray revealed a metallic foreign body in the left lower abdomen, which did not move to the anal side for 10 days. Then we did the laparotomy. In this operation it was found that the clasp of the denture had penetrated the sigmoid colon wall and formed an abscess in the mesocolon, sigmoidectomy and drainage were then performed.