Abstract
Barium appendicitis is a rare complication that has only been reported in a small number of case reports in the medical literature. A 57-year-old male presented to the emergency room with a sudden onset of sharp right lower quadrant abdominal pain. He had undergone contrast barium examination of his stomach 2 months previously as part of a periodic examination for gastric cancer. The radiological findings showed that the shape and radiopaque levels were similar to those of a dental metal crown silhouette. The patient was strongly suspected to have a localized intra-abdominal abscess due to ileocaecal perforation with a foreign body such as a dental metal crown. Emergency surgery revealed acute phlegmonous appendicitis. The resected specimen demonstrated a phlegmonous appendix which contained solid coproma. Pathological diagnosis and composition analysis confirmed the onset of appendicitis to be a result of the patient’s ingestion of barium sulfate.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Gubler JA, Kukral AJ. Barium appendicitis. J Int Coll Surg. 1954;21:379–84.
Cohen N, Modai D, Rosen A, Golik A, Weissgarten J. Barium appendicitis: fact or fancy? Report of a case and review of the literature. J Clin Gastroenterol. 1987;9:447–51.
Ambe P, Weber SA, Schauer M, Knoefel WT. Swallowed foreign bodies in adults. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2012;109:869–75.
Wu JM, Liang JT. Education and imaging. Gastrointestinal: barium-induced acute appendicitis. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2008;23:1159.
Fang YJ, Wang HP, Ho CM, Liu KL. Barium appendicitis. Surgery. 2009;146:957–8.
Novotny NM, Lillemoe KD, Falimirski ME. Barium appendicitis after upper gastrointestinal imaging. J Emerg Med. 2010;38:148–9.
Hoseini M, Mostafavi SM, Rezaei N, Boluri EJ. Orthodontic wire ingestion during treatment: reporting a case and review the management of foreign body ingestion or aspiration (emergencies). Case Rep Dent. 2013;2013:426591.
Disclosures
Conflict of Interest:
Makoto Adachi, Yuwa Takahashi, Makoto Kume, Ayumi Kurenuma, Masayuki Motohashi and Yasunori Muramatsu declare they have no conflict of interest.
Human/Animal Rights:
All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008(5).
Informed Consent:
Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Adachi, M., Takahashi, Y., Kume, M. et al. Barium-induced appendicitis mimicking accidental ingestion of a dental metal crown in radiological findings . Clin J Gastroenterol 7, 129–131 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-014-0457-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-014-0457-7