[Intestinal perforation caused by chicken bone mimicking perforated colonic diverticulitis]

Intestinal Perforation can occur in less than 1% of cases of ingestion of foreign bodies. Clinical suspicion is very important to make the diagnosis since many medical conditions can simulate this pathology. We present a case of a 63 years old man who swallowed a chicken bone that perforated the sigmoid colon and produced a clinical picture mimicking a perforated colonic diverticulitis. At surgery, the bone was removed without any evidence of abscess formation. A Hartmann procedure was performed and we reanastomosed it 3 month later. The patient followed an uneventful postoperative course. We demonstrated that early detection and opportune surgical treatment decrease the risk of developing complications such as abscess formation, intestinal fistula or obstruction.