Foreign body ingestion: how common is it really? A review and our experience managing a young woman: a case report

Whether foreign body ingestion is the bigger problem or the underlying condition which prompts such behavior. Nowadays, published cases are evident enough to indicate the increasing frequency of foreign body ingestion reporting in the emergency department, particularly patients with psychiatric illnesses. Diagnosis is often prompted by complications such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and weight loss. The details of most recently published cases and their management are discussed in this article to have an idea that how commonly this condition is encountered in medical practice. Case presentation This report presents a case of a 22-year-old Indian origin Muslim female, presented in our hospital with pain abdomen, nausea and vomiting just after taking meals. The patient’s attendant mentioned that the ingestion was motivated by anger and a desire for attention from her parents and husband. An X-ray of the erect abdomen performed 8 days prior revealed heavy metal ingestion, and a computed tomography (CT) scan conducted 1 day before admission confirmed the presence of multiple foreign bodies in the stomach. On the day of surgery, a contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) abdomen localized the cluster of foreign bodies in the second part of the duodenum. Initial attempts to remove the objects endoscopically were unsuccessful, necessitating surgical intervention after endoscopic retrieval failed. The incidence of foreign body ingestion seems to be increasing, with most cases managed endoscopically. However, in this case, the size and weight of the ingested objects, along with their clustering due to presence of magnets, made endoscopic retrieval challenging. This case highlights the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in managing complex foreign body ingestions.