Case report on a rare cause of silent duodenal perforation

INTRODUCTION: Foreign body ingestion is a common clinical scenario encountered in clinical practice. Perforations related to foreign bodies are rare (<1%) but can present as a serious element in Emergency surgery. The most common site of perforations are angulated areas like ileocecal valve, sigmoid colon and duodeno-jejunal flexure and small bowel. We describe a rare case of duodenal perforation related to foreign body ingestion which has rarely been reported in the literature. CASE PRESENTATION AND MANAGEMENT: This case report describes the presentation and management of a 65 year old male who presented with septic shock without symptoms and signs of an acute abdomen. Imaging revealed a sealed foreign body perforation in the first part of duodenum with a localized abscess. The abscess cavity was drained and the foreign body (fish bone) was removed laparoscopically. CONCLUSION: Foreign body perforations were often missed in view of its atypical and latent presentation with the history of foreign body ingestion is rare. Early multiplanar reformatting CT images help in identifying the cause and also to locate the foreign body in most of the patients, thus making it an important tool for preoperative diagnosis which assists in surgical planning. Though the majority of patients will require an exploratory laparotomy, minimally invasive procedures can be attempted in stable patients similar to this case.