Abstract

Foreign body ingestion is a relatively uncommon, but potentially serious condition. Most of gastrointestinal foreign bodies pass spontaneously. But, large objectives are usually lodged in the stomach and cause perforation, bleeding, and obstruction. Therefore, prompt retrieval of lodged foreign bodies are necessary before complications develop. Particularly, in the case of long metallic spoon, there have been no cases of spontaneous passage reported. Therefore, prompt retrieval of a metallic spoon are necessary. A 28- year-old woman with schizophrenia who ingested a long spoon for suicidal attempt was referred to our hospital. Simple abdomen showed a 18 cm sized long, metallic spoon with saw-toothed end placed in the stomach. We removed a spoon by an endoscopic technique and an extraction maneuver using a guidewire and a Magill forceps. (Korean J Gastrointest Endosc 2004;29:17⁣21)

• Keywords: Gastrointestinal foreign body, Spoon, Endoscopic removal, Guidewire