Intestinal Obstruction Due to a Gallstone

Although intestinal obstruction due to gallstones is no longer a medical curiosity (see appended note) a correct pre-operative diagnosis of this can rarely be established on sound grounds. The following instance is noteworthy in that such a diagnosis was made and that, during a single episode of illness, several gallstones were vomited, one segment of a large stone-produced small bowel obstruction requiring operation, while another segment of the same stone was digitally removed from the rectum. It is distinctly unusual to observe all three of these events in the same patient.