A case report on hip implant's long journey: An unusual cause of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding

Though obscure gastrointestinal bleeding accounts for a small proportion of gastrointestinal bleeding, it poses a great diagnostic challenge at times where gold standard initial endoscopic investigations may fail to detect.

We present a case report of 70-year male who presented with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding. On thorough investigation the source of bleeding was found to be an orthopedic hip implant which migrated intraabdominally. The case was successfully managed with laparotomy, removal of implant and partial small bowel resection with prior anastomosis of small bowel.

Diagnosis of Obscure gastrointestinal bleeding is often challenging and identification of source and site of bleeding at times is not possible. Foreign body, as a cause of obscure gastrointestinal bleeding, is uncommon. Ingested foreign bodies and vascular prosthetic grafts are the known foreign bodies causing gastrointestinal bleeding. However prosthetic implants causing gastrointestinal bleeding is a rare occurrence.

Intraabdominal migration of orthopedic implant causing gastrointestinal bleeding is a very rare condition and should be considered as a rare complication of implants in such patients.