Foreign bodies of the stomach

Foreign bodies of the stomach are more often found in children and mentally ill persons. These can be spoons, knives, forks, needles, buttons, coins and other items. Small objects (up to 2 cm) usually spontaneously escape naturally. Large lingers in the stomach. Part of foreign bodies (including acute ones), having passed through the gatekeeper, can linger on any part of the digestive tract. Long stay of objects on one level can lead to the development of bedsores and peritonitis.

Symptoms, course. Constant aching pain in epigastrium, feeling of heaviness. With the development of complications - peritoneal phenomena. The diagnosis of special difficulties does not represent: anamnesis, radiologic examination of the stomach (overview for radiopaque subjects, contrast - for X-ray negative foreign bodies). Effective fibrogastroskopiya, which allows not only to diagnose, but also to remove the foreign body (cautiously, in mentally unbalanced people it is better to produce gastroscopy under anesthesia).

Treatment. Extraction of a foreign body. If the foreign body passed into the intestine and stopped at a certain level for more than a day (X-ray), surgical treatment is shown, and the operation is performed when it is impossible to extract the foreign body from the stomach with the help of a gastroscopy.

Tricho- and phytobezoars are foreign bodies of the stomach that are formed by ingestion of hair tips or plant and fruit bones (often persimmon). These foreign bodies gradually increase in the stomach, forming a kind of impression of the stomach. Their dimensions are sometimes considerable. Patients are concerned about the feeling of heaviness, bursting in the epigastrium, sometimes bezoars are palpable through the abdominal wall Diagnosis is based on the data of radiographic and endoscopic studies.

Treatment - extraction with an endoscope after a preliminary crushing. Unsuccessful attempts are an indication for surgical treatment. The prognosis is favorable.