Clinical characteristics of an esophageal fish bone foreign body from Chromis notata

Damselfish Chromis notata is a small fish less than 15 cm long and it is widespread in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. Of all the cases of fish bone foreign body (FBFB) disease at our hospital, a damselfish FBFB was very common, and a specific part of the bone complex was involved in the majority of cases. This study was performed to evaluate the clinical characteristics of damselfish FBFB in Jeju Island. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records from March 2004 to March 2011 for foreign body diseases. Among 126 cases of foreign body diseases, there were 77 (61.1%) cases of FBFB. The mean age ± standard deviation was 57.8 ± 12.7 yr, and this was higher in females 60.9 ± 14.6 yr vs 54.1 ± 8.7 yr. Damselfish was the most common origin of a FBFB 36 out of total 77 cases. The anal fin spine-pterygiophore complex of damselfish was most commonly involved and cause more severe clinical features than other fish bone foreign bodies; deep 2.7 ± 0.8 cm vs 2.3 ± 0.8 cm; P < 0.01, more common mural penetration 23/36 vs 10/41; P < 0.01, and longer hospital stay 12.6 ± 20.0 days 4.7 ± 4.8 days; P = 0.02. We recommend removing the anal fin spine-pterygiophore complex during cleaning the damselfish before cooking.