Sewing needle appendicitis in a child.

ABSTRACT

A six-year-old boy presented with abdominal pain and vomiting five days after accidental ingestion of a sewing needle. The presence of the needle in the right iliac fossa on plain roentgenogram along with signs of appendicular inflammation on clinical and laboratory evaluation provided a clue to the diagnosis. Surgical exploration revealed inflamed appendix with the ingested needle in its lumen. The child recovered after appendectomy, and is well six months later.