Two people in Quang Ninh were hospitalized after fish bones punctured their digestive tract.

GĐXH - Two consecutive patients suffered dangerous complications due to fish bones piercing the digestive tract and penetrating deep into the abdomen, causing dangerous abscesses.

According to information from Quang Ninh General Hospital, in the past 2 days, doctors here have received two consecutive cases of rare complications due to fish bone stuck in the throat. The fish bone pierced the digestive tract and went deep into the abdomen, causing a dangerous abscess. One case penetrated the bladder wall and the other case got stuck in the head of the pancreas. Doctors promptly performed surgery to successfully remove the foreign object and completely treat the abscess for the patient.

Doctor CKII Pham Viet Hung, Head of Surgery Department, re-examined patient C after surgery. Photo: BVCC

The first case was patient V.D.C (77 years old, in Cai Rong town, Van Don district), who was hospitalized with difficulty urinating and prolonged pain in the lower abdomen but the cause was unknown. Initially, the patient thought he had a common urinary disease. However, through ultrasound and CT scan, doctors discovered an abscess in the upper wall of the bladder, inside of which was a long, sharp foreign object, suspected to be a fish bone.

The surgical team of the Department of Surgery performed an endoscopy and found a 5x6cm abscess mass protruding into the bladder wall, causing an abscess. They opened the abscess mass and removed it, then sutured the bladder. Cutting the abscess mass revealed a foreign object inside, a sharp piece of bone, about 5cm long.

The second case is patient PKTh (56 years old) in Ha Long , admitted to the hospital because of dull, prolonged epigastric pain. A CT scan unexpectedly discovered a long, thin foreign object deeply embedded in the head of the pancreas causing an abscess. The surgical team performed a laparoscopy, approached the posterior omentum and removed a 4cm long fish bone embedded in the head of the pancreas.

Currently, both patients are recovering well, no more pain, stable test results and are expected to be discharged in the next few days.

The team of doctors from the Department of Surgery performed an endoscopy to remove a foreign object for patient Th. Photo: BVCC

Dangerous complications due to fish bone stuck in throat

Fish bones are one of the most common foreign objects in the digestive tract. Initially, they only cause a feeling of being stuck in the throat, but if not treated promptly, the bones can move down the esophagus, stomach, and even penetrate the digestive wall and stray into other organs in the abdomen, causing abscesses and dangerous infections. Cases of fish bones straying into organs in the abdomen such as the bladder and pancreas as above are very rare and can cause serious and dangerous complications.

Doctor CKII Pham Viet Hung, Head of the Department of Surgery, Quang Ninh General Hospital, assessed: "Since Tet until now, the Provincial General Hospital has received many cases of hospitalization due to foreign bodies in the digestive tract. However, these are two rare complications, because normally foreign bodies passing through the digestive tract will be excreted or stuck in common locations such as the esophagus, stomach, and intestines. When a fish bone pierces the digestive tract, the hole can heal itself, but the foreign body continues to move in the abdomen, until it gets stuck in a certain location such as the bladder, head of the pancreas... it will cause inflammation, abscess, and even threaten life.

Many patients with fish bone stuck in their throats, if they do not have obvious symptoms, are often subjective and do not go to the doctor early, leading to serious complications. Fortunately, both patients this time were discovered in time and had successful surgery, removing the foreign object and cleaning the abscess, helping to ensure the function of the damaged organ."

These rare cases are also a warning about the risk of choking on foreign objects, especially in the elderly, which can cause unpredictable consequences if not detected and treated promptly. When experiencing unusual symptoms such as difficulty urinating, prolonged abdominal pain, patients should not be subjective but should seek early medical attention to avoid dangerous complications.

Source: https://giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn/hy-huu-lien-tiep-2-nguoi-o-quang-ninh-nhap-vien-vi-xuong-ca-dam-thung-duong-tieu-hoa-172250218104046223.htm