The aluminum beverage tab and a soldier with chronic abdominal pain

Abstract

Since its introduction in the 1960s, the aluminum pull-tab has been an uncommon cause of aspiration and intestinal obstruction. In many cases, the inability to visualize aluminum on imaging studies delayed diagnosis and therapy or missed the foreign body altogether. Early reports of injury secondary to pull-tab ingestion or aspiration spurred the beverage industry to re-engineer the pop-tab in the 1980s. The new design meant to reduce injury by keeping the tab attached permanently to the can. Despite this innovation, the aluminum pop-tab continues to be a cause of injury. Here, we describe the inadvertent ingestion of an aluminum pop-tab by a 22-year-old patient that resulted in chronic intermittent abdominal distress due to recurrent bowel obstruction for 4 years. This case is unique in the length of delayed diagnosis and demonstrates the elusive nature of an aluminum foreign body.

Keywords

• Aluminum
• Foreign body
• Small bowel obstruction
• Stricture
• Ingestion
• Open