Rectal foreign bodies can usually be de-tected by rectal examination, but radiog-raphy is useless for radiolucent foreignbodies. We describe a case in which a ra-diolucent foreign body was seen on plainradiography.Case reportA 51-year-old man presented with a re-tained colorectal foreign body that wasintroduced transanally for sexual stimula-tion. According to the patient, it was a15-cm long plastic tube. On physical ex-amination, a tubular-shaped mass couldbe palpated in the patient’s lower ab-domen. No foreign body was detectedon rectal examination. Initial examina-tion of the abdominal plain film (Fig. 1)revealed only a dilated loop of bowel inthe lower portion of the abdomen. How-ever, detailed examination revealed ashadow whose location corresponded tothe clinically palpable mass and that wasactually the foreign body. Colonoscopyunder mild sedation identified the lowerend of the foreign body positioned18 cm from the anal verge. However, theendoscopist failed to retrieve the foreignbody by forceps, basket, balloon or snare.Eventually, the patient was given a gen-eral anesthetic. A pair of toothed laparo-scopic forceps was inserted per anus un-der colonoscopic guidance, and theforeign body was securely grasped andremoved. It was a tubular sponge, 15 cmlong and 3 cm in diameter (Fig. 2). Thematerial was radiolucent, but the airtrapped inside it had given an interestingand characteristic appearance on the plainradiograph.DiscussionMore proximally located foreign bodiescan occasionally be palpated on abdomi-nal examination, as in this case. Plainradiography is useless for visualizing
[1]
S. Laurberg,et al.
[Colorectal foreign bodies].
,
2006,
Ugeskrift for laeger.
[2]
R. Beart,et al.
Management of Retained Colorectal Foreign Bodies: Predictors of Operative Intervention
,
2004,
Diseases of the colon and rectum.
[3]
J. D. Castillo,et al.
Colorectal trauma caused by foreign bodies introduced during sexual activity: diagnosis and management.
,
2001
.
[4]
C. Esposito,et al.
Removal of a Foreign Body from the Distal Colon Using a Combined Laparoscopic and Endoanal Approach: Report of a Case
,
2000
.
[5]
Sackier Jm,et al.
Management of colorectal foreign bodies.
,
1996
.
[6]
M. Millán Scheiding,et al.
Colorectal trauma caused by foreign bodies introduced during sexual activity: diagnosis and management.
,
2001,
Revista espanola de enfermedades digestivas : organo oficial de la Sociedad Espanola de Patologia Digestiva.
[7]
J. Sackier,et al.
Management of colorectal foreign bodies.
,
1996,
Journal of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.