A Patient with Acute Abdominal Pain Caused by an Unnoticed Swallowed Toothpick Misdiagnosed as Acute Appendicitis

Abstract

The differential diagnosis of acute abdominal pain is a challenging task for medical doctors working in the department of gastroenterology. It is clear that acute abdominal pain may be associated with a number of pathologic conditions. We report an unusual case of an unnoticed swallowed wooden toothpick stuck in the ileocecal area of a young man with right lower abdominal pain who was misdiagnosed as acute appendicitis. However, an abdominal computed tomography scan showed an elongated foreign body stuck in the ileocecal area. The elongated foreign body was identified as a wooden toothpick, which was then grasped with a foreign body forceps and successfully removed through colonoscopy. The patient’s abdominal pain was significantly relieved within 2 days following treatment. On the basis of the case report, we suggest the importance of abdominal computed tomography scans for the differential diagnosis of acute abdominal pain and highlight the need for extra vigilance in excluding the diagnosis of foreign bodies in the gastrointestinal tract of patients with acute abdominal pain.

Keywords: Acute abdominal pain, Acute appendicitis, Computed tomography, Differential diagnosis, Foreign body, Toothpick