The virtue of N=1

I always have been interested in articles where only one case has been reported...when I was in graduate school I remember listening to a presentation on the dangers of filling methanol burners. The virtues of N=1...only allowed in medical cases. Ingesting a wishbone...I guess this guys was not so lucky! Ouch....






Acute abdomen caused by ingested chicken wishbone: a case report

Introduction
An ingested foreign body often passes the gastrointestinal tract without any complications. Foreign bodies, such as dentures, fish bones, chicken bones, and toothpicks, have been known to cause perforation of the GI tract.

Case presentation
We are presenting a case of a fifty-year-old male with acute abdomen; diffuse fibro purulent peritonitis, i.e. ileum perforation, caused by accidentally ingesting a chicken wishbone. He was treated surgically with ileum resection, and temporary ileostomy. After four months, intestinal continuity was established in the second operation.

Conclusion
Intestinal perforation by a chicken bone is rare and affects the left colon or distal ileum. The lack of information of ingestion and detection of chicken bones preoperatively are of interest to be considered in the differential diagnosis of acute abdomen, which in this case was treated surgically.