ABSTRACT
Foreign bodies in the stomach are usually ingested by children under 5 years of age, persons with dentures, alcoholics, mentally disturbed individuals or prisoners with a purpose of secondary gain. Many patients will be asymptomatic and will be brought in by parents with a history of having swallowed something. The ingested foreign bodies are mainly coins, particles of metals, fish bones and etc. A needle or a toothpick in the stomach has been rarely reported in an adult.. We present two cases of patients: one case of patient with needle stuck in the stomach, who swallowed for the purpose of secondary gain, and the other case of patient with toothpick stuck in the stomach, who did not realize having swallowed it. A 23-year-old man, prisoner, was admitted to hospital due to epigastric pain after ingestion of a needle. Endoscopy showed a black needle, 1.2cm long stuck at the prepyloric antrum. It was removed by the endoscopic biopsy forceps through the overtube used in endoscopic variceal ligation and proved to be a needle with a length of 4.9 cm and a diameter of 0.1 cm. A 58-year-old woman developed an acute onset of hematemesis and epigastralgia, and presented to the emergency room. On admission, her blood pressure was 60/40 mmHg. An emergency endoscopy showed a yellowish, thin, stiff material 3.5cm long stuck at the greater curvature of the antrum with meat materials. It was removed by the above method and proved to an wooden tooth pick with a length of 6.5 cm and a diameter of 0.2 cm. No active bleeding was noted from the removed site. She did not realized she had swallowed the toothpick. She was discharged without complication.