Case Report: Surgical Intervention for Fasciolopsis buski Infection: A Literature Review

Fasciolopsis buski, also called the giant intestinal fluke, is the largest intestinal fluke of the zoonotic trematode parasites and found mainly in Southeast Asian countries, including China. Fasciolopsis buski infection was formerly a common health problem in many countries, but it is now rare. Typically, it can be cured by oral drugs, but some infected patients need surgical intervention because of the severity of their condition or because of an unclear diagnosis or even misdiagnosis. Here, we report a case of a 15-year-old girl from Guizhou Province, China, presenting with recurrent upper-middle abdominal pain that was misdiagnosed as a choledochal cyst. Through laparotomy combined with postoperative histopathological examination, the source of the pain was proven to be mechanical biliary obstruction caused by F. buski infection. In the past, mechanical obstruction, especially biliary obstruction, caused by F. buski infection leading to surgery was not uncommon, but it is very rare in modern society. Moreover, delayed treatment and misdiagnosis of parasitic infection can lead to severe consequences. Therefore, we reviewed the previous literature on F. buski infection treated by surgical operation and summarized the characteristics and therapeutic strategies of these cases to raise clinicians’ awareness of this rare infection.