Dental Prothesis Found in the Jejuno (8 of 9)

Abdominal Rx suggest that this foreign body is located immediately after the Treitz angle.

Sharp objects should be retrieved from the stomach because 15 to 35% will cause intestinal perforation, but small round objects (eg, coins and button batteries) can simply be observed. The patient's stools should be searched, and if the object does not appear, x-rays are taken at 48-h intervals. A coin that remains in the stomach for > 4 wk or a battery showing signs of corrosion on x-ray that remains in the stomach for > 48 h should be removed. A hand-held metal detector can localize metallic foreign bodies and provide information comparable to that yielded by plain
x-rays.