Ingested foreign body in the sigmoid colon: detection and localization by CT colonography.

Volume 95 No. 2 February 2012 a seventy-six year old Female presented to her gastroenterologist for a workup of iron deficiency anemia, hematochezia, and newly diagnosed celiac disease. Other symptoms included fecal incontinence and anal discomfort thought to be related to hemorrhoids as well as mild bilateral lower abdominal pain. A colonoscopy revealed an endoluminal tubular foreign body firmly embedded at either end in the colonic wall approximately 18 cm from the anal verge. At this point the risk of perforation with immediate colonoscopic foreign body retrieval was deemed to be high and removal was deferred until after a surgical consultation was obtained. CT colonography was ordered for preoperative evaluation prior to planning for a combined endoscopic and laparoscopic approach to foreign body removal. CT colonography (virtual colonoscopy) demonstrated a five cm long radiodense linear foreign body traversing the lumen of the distal sigmoid colon (Figures 1 and 2). The foreign body was calcific in density with the morphology of an ingested bone. Both ends of the foreign ingested Foreign Body in the sigmoid colon: detection and localization by ct colonography