Acute abdominal pain complicated by cecal perforation caused by an unnoticed swallowed toothpick:A case report

BACKGROUND Acute abdominal pain is one of the most common gastrointestinal symptoms.The etiology of acute abdomen can be challenging for gastroenterologists to establish.Cecal foreign body is a rare cause of cecal perforation.CASE SUMMARY We report a 35-year-old male from China who initially exhibited symptoms suggestive of acute appendicitis.However,during a minimally invasive colonoscopy procedure,the authors found that a wooden toothpick caused the perforation.The patient presented to our emergency department with a 2 days history of right lower abdominal pain and low grade fever.The patient was in good health and had eaten fish 2 days earlier.Physical examination revealed mild pain with positive rebound tenderness in the right lower abdomen.However,computed tomography of the abdomen confirmed a strip of high-density shadows protruding beyond the intestinal cavity outline,with a small amount of peritoneal seepage in the ileocecal area.Combined with the medical history,the possibility of foreign body perforation by a fishbone and peripheral peritonitis were considered.However,the high-density shadow was identified as a wooden toothpick,which was removed via a minimally invasive procedure using a foreign body forceps under colonoscopy.The patient's condition improved significantly within 5 days after treatment.CONCLUSION We emphasize the importance of a detailed patient history,accurate diagnosis and proper treatment in patients with acute abdomen.

Silver-nanoparticle-coated biliary stent inhibits bacterial adhesion in bacterial cholangitis in swine

BACKGROUND： One of the major limitations of biliary stents is the stent occlusion, which is closely related to the over- growth of bacteria. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of a novel silver=nanoparticle-coated polyurethane （Ag/PU） stent in bacterial cholangitis model in swine. METHODS： Ag/PU was designed by coating silver nanopar- tides on polyurethane （PU） stent. Twenty-four healthy pigs with bacterial cholangitis using Ag/PU and PU stents were ran- domly divided into an Ag/PU stent group （n=12） and a PU stem group （n=12）, respectively. The stents were inserted by standard endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography. Laboratory assay was performed for white blood cell （WBC） count, alanine aminotransferase （ALT）, interleukin-1 [l （IL- 1 p）, tumor necrosis factor-a （TNF-~） at baseline time, 8 hours, 1, 2, 3, and 7 days after stent placements. The segment of bile duct containing the stent was examined histologically ex vivo. Implanted bili- ary stents were examined by a scan electron microscope. The amount of silver release was also measured in vitro. RESULTS： The number of inflammatory cells and level of ALT, IL-1β and TNF-α were significantly lower in the Ag/PU stent group than in the PU stent group. Hyperplasia of the mucosa was more severe in the PU stent group than in the Ag/PU stent group. In contrast to the biofilm of bacteria on the PU stent, fewer bacteria adhered to the Ag/PU stent. CONCLUSIONS： PU biliary stents modified with silver nanoparticles are able to alleviate the inflammation of pigs with bacterial cholangitis. Silver-nanoparticle-coated stents are resistant to bacterial adhesion.

Endoscopic treatment for pancreatic diseases:Needle-knife-guided cannulation via the minor papilla

AIM: To determine the efficacy and safety of meticulous cannulation by needle-knife.METHODS: Three needle-knife procedures were used to facilitate cannulation in cases when standard cannulation techniques failed. A total of 104 cannulationsvia the minor papilla attempted in 74 patients at our center between January 2008 and June 2014 were retrospectively reviewed.RESULTS: Standard methods were successful in79 cannulations. Of the 25 cannulations that could not be performed by standard methods, 19 were performed by needle-knife, while 17(89.5%) were successful. Needle-knife use improved the success rate of cannulation [76.0%, 79/104 vs 92.3%,(79 +17)/104; P = 0.001]. When the 6 cases not appropriate for needle-knife cannulation were excluded, the success rate was improved further(80.6%, 79/98 vs98.0%, 96/98; P = 0.000). There were no significant differences in the rates of post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography adverse events between the group using standard methods alone and the group using needle-knife after failure of standard methods(4.7% vs 10.5%, P = 0.301).CONCLUSION: The needle-knife procedure may be an alternative method for improving the success rate of cannulation via the minor papilla, particularly when standard cannulation has failed.