Foreign Bodies in the Abdominal Area: Review of the Literature
Evangelos Nastoulis,
Maria-Valeria Karakasi,
Maria Alexandri,
Vasileios Thomaidis,
Aliki Fiska,
Pavlos Pavlidis
Affiliations
Evangelos Nastoulis
Laboratory of Forensic Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, School of Medicine, GR 68100 Dragana, Alexandroupolis, Greece
Maria-Valeria Karakasi
Laboratory of Forensic Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, School of Medicine, GR 68100 Dragana, Alexandroupolis, Greece; Third University Department of Psychiatry, AHEPA University General Hospital – Department of Mental Health, Aristotle University – Faculty of Medicine, GR 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Maria Alexandri
Laboratory of Forensic Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, School of Medicine, GR 68100 Dragana, Alexandroupolis, Greece
Vasileios Thomaidis
Department of Anatomy, Democritus University of Thrace, School of Medicine, GR 68100 Dragana, Alexandroupolis, Greece
Aliki Fiska
Department of Anatomy, Democritus University of Thrace, School of Medicine, GR 68100 Dragana, Alexandroupolis, Greece
Pavlos Pavlidis
Laboratory of Forensic Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, School of Medicine, GR 68100 Dragana, Alexandroupolis, Greece
The aim of this paper is to update and summarize the relevant literature on the anatomical localization, incidence, and diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to abdominal foreign bodies. A comprehensive review was carried out on recorded cases related to the presence of foreign bodies in the abdominal area throughout the literature. Moreover, the phenomenon was discussed in relation to different patient categories associated with childhood, mental or neurological illness, incarceration, and drug trafficking as well as sexual accident or abuse. Particular importance is ascribed to the underlying psychopathology and motivation of foreign body ingestion in each category of patients. The surgical, psychiatric and legal implications of the issue are discussed in detail.
