Intestinal perforation on an incarcerated incisional hernia secondary to an ingested foreign body. Report of a rare case

Abstract

Ingestion of foreign bodies (FBs) is common and rarely has consequences for the patient, but sometimes it can originate gastrointestinal perforation and lead to devastating consequences if unrecognized. Therefore, whenever present, bowel perforation demands immediate surgical treatment. An 89-year-old woman with an incarcerated incisional hernia, whose imaging study was consistent with intestinal occlusion and perforation within the hernia sac was treated at our hospital. A segmental enterectomy and direct correction of the hernial defect were performed. A perforation in the mesenteric border due to a FB, which seemed to be a toothpick, was identified in the surgical specimen. Nine months after surgery, the patient was without complaints, with adequate healing, and without evidence of hernial recurrence. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of intestinal perforation on an incarcerated incisional hernia, due to an ingested FB, reported in the literature.