The Surgical Management of Acute Esophageal Perforation by Accidentally Ingested Fish Bone

Esophageal foreign bodies are a relatively frequent pathology which does not need any kind of treatment in up to 80% of cases. Ten to 20% of patients are treated endoscopically, while less than 1% need surgery either due to perforation or to treat complications. We address the case of a 50 year old male who presented with an impacted esophageal foreign body which had perforated the esophageal wall. Flexible endoscopy confirmed the diagnosis and identified a large fish bone that was stuck transversally in the distal cervical esophagus and could not be mobilized. Surgery was mandatory in this case, with the extraction of the bone and double-layer suture, which did not prevent the appearence of an esophageal leakage more than two weeks postoperatively, which was treated conservatively. Even if it is rarely employed in the treatment of gastrointestinal foreign bodies, surgical treatment is unavoidable in cases of irretrievable esophageal foreign bodies or esophageal perforation.