A toothpick inside the liver with no defined access: A rare cause of liver abscess

Foreign body ingestion is not an uncommon occurrence, whereas the complications that may be generated by it are infrequent. The clinical manifestation range from nonspecific symptoms to life threatening conditions. Therefore, these cases continue to be challenging in diagnosis and treatment, especially items that are not radio-opaque.

This article demonstrates a rare case of liver abscess induced by a toothpick with an unknown access. A 64-year-old woman was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit when she had developed a septic shock due to liver abscess and a conservative treatment was provided. After that, the patient underwent surgery to extract the foreign body.

Tracking the ingested foreign body is not always effortless. Computed Tomography scan plays a significant role in discovering foreign bodies located inside the liver. Surgical intervention is mostly required to remove the foreign body.

Foreign body presence inside the liver is a rare incident. The symptoms vary from case to another and whether it is silent or not, it is preferable to remove the foreign body.