Retained Colorectal Foreign Body After Suspected Chemical Incapacitation: A Surgical and Forensic Challenge.
- 1Department of Medicine Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Newark New Jersey USA.
- 2Department of Surgery St. Mary's General Hospital Passaic New Jersey USA.
- 3Department of Gastroenterology East Orange Veterans Affairs Medical Center New Jersey USA.
Abstract
Retained rectal foreign bodies are an uncommon but clinically significant surgical emergency. We report the case of a 74-year-old male with multiple medical comorbidities who presented with progressive rectal pain and obstipation several days after an episode of suspected drug-facilitated assault. Plain radiography identified a large metallic aerosol can, and attempts to retrieve it under general anesthesia using surgical clamps and a magnetic probe failed. Intraoperative fluoroscopy demonstrated that the can had migrated proximal to the rectosigmoid junction into the left colon, precluding transanal extraction. The patient underwent exploratory laparotomy with longitudinal colotomy, permitting safe removal of the foreign body without evidence of perforation or visceral injury. This case illustrates the critical role of intraoperative fluoroscopy when digital examination fails, the indications for operative intervention in proximally migrated foreign bodies, and the importance of considering drug-facilitated assault as an etiology.
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BibTeX
@article{karkra2026retained,
title = {{Retained Colorectal Foreign Body After Suspected Chemical Incapacitation: A Surgical and Forensic Challenge.}},
author = {Rohan Karkra and Kenneth R Wilhalme and Sameer Rao and Ethan Shamsian and Vraj Shah and Edwin Teehan and Sima Vossough-Teehan},
journal = {Clinical case reports},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1002/ccr3.73769},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42903298},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Retained Colorectal Foreign Body After Suspected Chemical Incapacitation: A Surgical and Forensic Challenge.
AU - Rohan Karkra
AU - Kenneth R Wilhalme
AU - Sameer Rao
AU - Ethan Shamsian
AU - Vraj Shah
AU - Edwin Teehan
AU - Sima Vossough-Teehan
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
JO - Clinical case reports
DO - 10.1002/ccr3.73769
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42903298
AB - Retained rectal foreign bodies are an uncommon but clinically significant surgical emergency. We report the case of a 74-year-old male with multiple medical comorbidities who presented with progressive rectal pain and obstipation several days after an episode of suspected drug-facilitated assault. Plain radiography identified a large metallic aerosol can, and attempts to retrieve it under general anesthesia using surgical clamps and a magnetic probe failed. Intraoperative fluoroscopy demonstrated that the can had migrated proximal to the rectosigmoid junction into the left colon, precluding transanal extraction. The patient underwent exploratory laparotomy with longitudinal colotomy, permitting safe removal of the foreign body without evidence of perforation or visceral injury. This case illustrates the critical role of intraoperative fluoroscopy when digital examination fails, the indications for operative intervention in proximally migrated foreign bodies, and the importance of considering drug-facilitated assault as an etiology.
SN - 2050-0904
ER -