Congenital duodenal obstruction detected following foreign body ingestion

Abstract

Retention of a swallowed foreign object in the gastrointestinal tract is very rare once it enters the stomach. The authors re¬port an 8-year-old boy admitted following ingestion of a coin. He was followed with serial radiograms. A barium meal performed one month after ingestion of the foreign body, revealed a congenital duodenal web with a gastric bezoar. Reviewing similar reports in the literature, the authors concluded that ten days is the optimal time period to wait for further investigation in children who have ingested foreign objects that are retained in their stomach if they have no perforation po¬tential.