Endoscopic removal of an impacted wooden toothpick in the wall of the sigmoid colon

• Main Authors: Artur Zakościelny, Witold Zgodziński, Grzegorz Wallner, Krzysztof Zinkiewicz
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Termedia Publishing House 2018-05-01
• Series: Videosurgery and Other Miniinvasive Techniques
• Subjects: foreign body; screening colonoscopy; wooden toothpick; sigmoid colon
• Online Access: https://www.termedia.pl/Endoscopic-removal-of-an-impacted-wooden-toothpick-in-the-wall-of-the-sigmoid-colon,42,32817,1,1.html

Most ingested foreign bodies usually pass through the gastrointestinal tract without any complications. Sharp foreign bodies such as a wooden toothpick may cause severe complications, leading to an acute abdomen. They may also cause mild, non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms without significant findings. We describe a case of a 60-year-old man initially diagnosed with a foreign body impacted into the wall of the rectosigmoid junction upon screening colonoscopy. Incidentally, ingestion of the wooden toothpick 6 months before admission and the presence of recurrent fever and lower abdominal pain were confirmed in the patient’s history. Our video case study demonstrates the successful endoscopic removal of the wooden toothpick impacted into the colon wall.