Successful emergency treatment of a patient with liver abscess due to a rare ingested foreign body

Thong Nhat Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City has just successfully treated a patient with a rare liver abscess caused by a foreign body in the digestive tract, accompanied by many complex underlying medical conditions.

Thong Nhat Hospital doctors examine patients. (Photo: BVCC)

A 58-year-old male patient residing in Bay Hien Ward was admitted to the hospital with persistent abdominal pain and a history of high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. Previously, the patient had frequent abdominal pain around the navel, vomited many times, and had taken painkillers on his own but there was no improvement.

The results of the diagnostic imaging showed that a small piece of bone penetrated the colon wall at the hepatic flexure, embedded in the liver parenchyma of segment V, creating an abscess measuring 56x36mm, causing inflammation and thickening of the colon wall. This was the main cause of the patient's severe abdominal infection.

Faced with the risk of serious complications, doctors from the Department of Anesthesia and Resuscitation Surgery in collaboration with the Department of Gastroenterology successfully performed endoscopic surgery to remove the foreign body and treat the abscess. After surgery, the patient responded well to treatment, his health gradually stabilized, and he was transferred to the Department of Gastroenterology Surgery for further monitoring.

Doctor Le Tien Dung, Department of Digestive Surgery, Thong Nhat Hospital said: "The patient's infection symptoms have clearly improved, liver and kidney function are gradually stabilizing, and health is recovering well."

The foreign body is a piece of bone that penetrates the colon wall and lodges in the liver parenchyma, causing an abscess. (Photo: BVCC)

According to experts, foreign objects in the digestive tract, especially fish bones or small bones in food, can cause intestinal perforation, peritonitis, liver abscess, and even be life-threatening. People need to be careful when eating and drinking to avoid bones from entering the digestive tract.

When symptoms of prolonged abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, fever, etc. appear, patients should not arbitrarily use pain relievers at home but should go to a medical facility for early examination. Delay can make the infection worse, making treatment difficult and increasing the risk of dangerous complications.

NHAT THANH

Source: https://nhandan.vn/cap-cuu-thanh-cong-benh-nhan-ap-xe-gan-do-di-vat-tieu-hoa-hiem-gap-post905028.html