Chronic abdominal pain caused by foreign bodies in the appendix: A case report

BACKGROUND Acute abdominal pain is often easy to be diagnosed because of acute abdomen, and can be treated reasonably and effectively. It is more difficult to establish the cause of chronic abdominal pain, and some patients repeatedly visit several hospitals and still cannot be diagnosed. Chronic abdominal pain caused by chronic appendicitis is such a case. If the degree of abdominal pain is mild and there is no sign of peritonitis, chronic appendicitis is not performed unless the patient requests it. CASE SUMMARY We report an extremely rare case of chronic appendicitis caused by a foreign body in the appendix in a 35-year-old woman. The patient had a long-term abdominal pain of unclear cause, and she was repeatedly treated in several hospitals. After antibiotic treatment, the abdominal pain was gradually relieved, but abdominal pain often recurs. We conducted abdominal computed tomography examination, and upon the advice of radiologists, we considered the possibility of foreign bodies in the appendix, and excluded other causes of abdominal pain. The patient requested and consented to laparoscopic appendectomy, and a chicken bone was found in the appendiceal cavity by postoperative incision of the appendiceal specimen. Histopathological examination confirmed chronic appendicitis with foreign body giant cell reaction. The patient recovered and was discharged from the hospital. After 2 months of follow-up, abdominal pain did not recur, and the patient had a complete recovery. CONCLUSION Surgery can relieve chronic abdominal pain caused by foreign bodies in the appendix, but only if it is diagnosed.