Citation

Alves JR, Spengler LFS, David de Souza PF, Lanza de Miranda RO. Cureus 2022; 14(6): e26312.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Curēus)

DOI

10.7759/cureus.26312

PMID

35898388

PMCID

PMC9309326

Abstract

A 42-year-old man with schizophrenia and human immunodeficiency syndrome swallowed several glass shards in an attempted suicide. Two days later, he was admitted to the ER of the Florianópolis Hospital with a complaint of upper abdominal pain. The patient showed normal vital signs on physical examination; there was tenderness of palpation of the epigastrium. The investigation on admission included hemogram, CXR, abdominal X-ray, and upper GI scope. Radiographs showed several radiopaque image fragments in the stomach, as well as in the small and large intestines. Hemogram showed normal results. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy found no signs of esophagogastroduodenal perforation; several glass shards were removed from the patient's stomach. The patient remained in the ward for four days and underwent continuous vital signs monitoring, serial physical examinations, hematimetric control, and daily imaging tests. He showed normal vital signs and progressive improvement of abdominal pain during hospitalization, although hematochezia episodes took place during defecation. The patient no longer complained of abdominal pain on the fifth hospitalization day; the complete removal of the glass fragments was confirmed through imaging examinations, and the patient was transferred to a specialized hospital in order to better treat his psychiatric condition.

Language: en

Keywords

suicide attempts; emergency medicine and trauma; gastro-intestinal surgery; general trauma surgery; gi endoscopy