Beyond childhood curiosity: foreign body ingestion as a diagnostic blind spot in adolescent small bowel obstruction—a single-center case series and review of the literature
Abstract
Abstract Foreign body ingestion (FBI) is well recognized in young children but less frequently reported in adolescents, particularly those with intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, or behavioral challenges. This group is at increased risk for intentional or impulsive ingestion, often resulting in delayed diagnosis and morbidity. We describe three adolescents with distal bowel complications following FBI. Case 1: a 14-year-old boy with intellectual disability developed small bowel obstruction after ingesting a plastic doll part, requiring laparotomy. Case 2: a 16-year-old boy with behavioral difficulties ingested a plastic bag fragment causing ileal obstruction, managed by enterotomy. Case 3: a 22-year-old woman with untreated mood dysregulation ingested a 4-cm nail that passed spontaneously under conservative management. FBI in this population may present as unexplained obstruction. Radiolucent plastics are often missed on plain radiography, whereas linear metallic objects may pass safely. Early computed tomography, timely surgical intervention, and psychiatric support are essential for improved outcomes.
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a case report, done in people. Its evidence level is 5 of 5 (Very low · case / narrative / animal / in vitro / in silico). Case reports, narrative reviews, and animal, cell or computer-model studies give the weakest evidence for human health.
Read the paper
Related studies
- In silico toxicology protocols
- QM7-X, a comprehensive dataset of quantum-mechanical properties spanning the chemical space of small organic molecules
- Quantum Informed Machine-Learning Potentials for Molecular Dynamics Simulations of CO2's Chemisorption and Diffusion in Mg-MOF-74
- In-silico strategies in nano-drug design: Bridging nanomaterials and pharmacological applications
- mRNA codon optimization with quantum computers
- The computational power of the human brain
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.