Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 27, 2026
10:07
Using Learning Outcome Measures to assess Doctoral Nursing Education
Published on: June 21, 2010
19.4K
A Toothpick a day, keeps the doctor away?
L Depoorter1, T Billiet2, M Verhamme3
1ASO Internal Medicine, UZLeuven.
Acta Gastro-Enterologica Belgica
|March 20, 2019
Summary
Toothpick ingestion can cause serious gastrointestinal issues like obstruction or perforation, mimicking acute abdominal conditions. Clinicians should consider foreign body ingestion in unexplained acute abdomen cases, as illustrated by a patient with a perforated toothpick.
Area of Science:
- Gastroenterology
- Surgical Case Reports
Background:
- Ingested foreign bodies, particularly toothpicks, pose a significant risk for gastrointestinal impaction, obstruction, and perforation.
- Such complications often present as acute abdomen, frequently leading to misdiagnosis due to lack of recalled ingestion history.
Observation:
- A 50-year-old woman presented with right lower abdominal pain, initially diagnosed as intestinal adhesions after CT scan showed obstruction.
- Non-operative management led to initial recovery, but she returned weeks later with similar symptoms and CT-confirmed terminal ileitis.
Findings:
- Endoscopic examination revealed a toothpick perforating the terminal ileum, which was subsequently removed.
- This case highlights the diagnostic challenge posed by toothpick ingestion in acute abdominal presentations.
Implications:
- Clinicians must maintain a high index of suspicion for foreign body ingestion in patients presenting with acute abdomen of unclear etiology.
- Prompt diagnosis and removal of ingested foreign bodies are crucial to prevent severe gastrointestinal complications.
Related Concept Videos
01:52Regression Toward the Mean
6.9K
Regression toward the mean (“RTM”) is a phenomenon in which extremely high or low values—for example, and individual’s blood pressure at a particular moment—appear closer to a group’s average upon remeasuring. Although this statistical peculiarity is the result of random error and chance, it has been problematic across various medical, scientific, financial and psychological applications. In particular, RTM, if not taken into account, can interfere when...
6.9K
01:08Obedience
35.6K
According to obedience research, we may harm others under the forceful pressures of an authority figure (Milgram, 1974). How about if the inappropriate orders were delivered with less force? The increasing interdependence between nurses and physicians compelled Hofling and his colleagues to explore nurses’ reactions to a potentially harmful medical request made by the perceived authority figure, the doctor (Hofling, Brotzman, Dalrymple, Graves, & Pierce, 1966). In this situation,...
35.6K
01:40Archival Research
17.1K
Some researchers gain access to large amounts of data without interacting with a single research participant. Instead, they use existing records to answer various research questions. This type of research approach is known as archival research. Archival research relies on looking at past records or data sets to look for interesting patterns or relationships. For example, a researcher might access the academic records of all individuals who enrolled in college within the past ten years and...
17.1K
03:20The Stanford Prison Experiment
24.7K
The famous and controversial Stanford Prison Experiment, conducted by social psychologist Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues at Stanford University, demonstrated the power of social roles, social norms, and scripts.
24.7K
02:16Comparing Mitochondrial, Chloroplast, and Prokaryotic Genomes
15.9K
The present-day mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes have retained some of the characteristics of their ancestral prokaryotes and also have acquired new attributes during their evolution within eukaryotic cells. Like prokaryotic genomes, mitochondrial and chloroplast genomes neither bind with histone-like proteins nor show complex packaging into chromosome-like structures, as observed in eukaryotes. Unlike mitotic cell divisions observed in eukaryotic cells, mitochondria and chloroplasts...
15.9K
01:22Imprinting
11.1K
Behavioral imprinting is observed in some newborn animals and occurs when they develop strong and specific attachments to another animal (usually a parent) following brief, early-life exposures. Offspring imprint onto parents within a brief period after birth or hatching; this time window is called the critical period. Once imprinting occurs, the bond established between the parents and their offspring is usually long-lasting.
11.1K