Acute anal pain and a chicken bone.

A 35-year-old man presented with acute, severe anal pain following a bowel action. His stool had been slightly loose but there had been no rectal bleeding. He was otherwise quite well and had no history of haemorrhoids, anal fissure or other perianal disease. He had eaten chicken curry 36 hours previously. Rectal examination revealed a fixed, bone-like object impacted transversely across the anus. Lignocaine gel 2% was applied to the painful mucosa impaled on the bone, and a proctoscope inserted to simultaneously dilate the anus and dislodge the bone. There was immediate relief of his symptoms. The chicken bone, which was approximately 3 cm long (Figure 1), was removed manually and proctoscopy revealed no other abnormality. The patient subsequently remained well.