An unusual cause of acute abdomen: Massive amounts of foreign-body bezoar

Acute abdomen, especially in psychiatric patients, can result from bizarre causes such as bezoars. This unique case report intends to shed light on a rare type of bezoars with an unusual presentation. A 30-year-old schizophrenic male, who is in denial of his mental condition and having mystical believes instead, presented with acute abdomen. Workups revealed vast amounts of foreign bodies within dilated intestines. Exploratory laparotomy was done extracting about 2 kg of nylon-wrapped foreign bodies which caused distention with multiple perforations to both cecum and sigmoid colon. Interestingly, the foreign materials were either ingested or introduced rectally. Although bezoars are not a common finding nowadays. They should still be considered as a potential cause of acute abdomen in psychiatric and some nonpsychiatric patients alike, especially in countries, where mental illness can easily be disguised as mystical beliefs.

Key-words:

Acute abdomen - bezoars - foreign bodies - psychiatric illness

Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
07. Juli 2022