This case report describes an accidental ingestion of a gold dental in
lay prosthesis that became lodged in the appendix. A nonsurgical appro
ach was pursued because this: blunt foreign body posed a minimal perfo
ration risk. A second opinion for an elective appendectomy was chosen
by the patient until a preoperative abdominal film 20 days after inges
tion documented the passage of the foreign body into the colon. The pa
tient remained asymptomatic throughout the 3-week course. This report
represents the first case to clearly document an appendiceal foreign b
ody that spontaneously passed into the colon. We suggest that patients
with blunt foreign bodies within the appendix may be treated conserva
tively under close medical supervision.