CASE REPORT article
Front. Gastroenterol.
Sec. Gastrointestinal Infection
Acute Appendicitis Secondary to Fish Bone Perforation Managed by Laparoscopic Appendectomy: a case report
Provisionally accepted
Zhong Wang
Zhan-Fei She*Hao-Yu xuShuo ZhangYu QiaoLiang WangXing QiZhi-Peng LiuSi-Yuan LiuJun-Wei WenXue-Mei Tian- Ordos Center Hospital, Ordos, China
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We report a 48-year-old male of perforated appendicitis induced by fish bone. The patient experienced persistent right lower abdominal pain for 24 hours with no response to antibiotics. Physical examination revealed localized tenderness, with rebound pain at McBurney's point. Ultrasound scan confirmed acute appendicitis. Emergency laparoscopic surgery revealed that the culprit behind the appendicitis was a fishbone, which had pierced the wall of the appendix. The retrospective analysis of the patient's dietary history indicated that he had consumed fish and swallowed a fish bone within 72 hours prior to symptom onset. We identified three measures that can improved diagnostic rates for patients through this case. 1) Mandatory surgical intervention for patients exhibiting peritoneal irritation signs. 3) Systematic dietary history documentation should be prioritized in endemic regions. 2) Enhanced CT with three-dimensional reconstruction improves detection of submillimeter foreign bodies. Laparoscopic appendectomy emerges as the optimal therapeutic approach, combining diagnostic confirmation with definitive treatment, particularly valuable in occult foreign body cases.
Keywords: Fish bone, Appendicitis, foreign body, perforation, case report
Received: 02 Sep 2025; Accepted: 29 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, She, xu, Zhang, Qiao, Wang, Qi, Liu, Liu, Wen and Tian. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Zhan-Fei She
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