Transient golden appendicolith

This case report describes an accidental ingestion of a gold dental inlay prosthesis that became lodged in the appendix. A nonsurgical approach was pursued because this blunt foreign body posed a minimal perforation risk. A second opinion for an elective appendectomy was chosen by the patient until a preoperative abdominal film 20 days after ingestion documented the passage of the foreign body into the colon. The patient remained asymptomatic throughout the 3-week course. This report represents the first case to clearly document an appendiceal foreign body that spontaneously passed into the colon. We suggest that patients with blunt foreign bodies within the appendix may be treated conservatively under close medical supervision.