TRANSIENT GOLDEN APPENDICOLITH

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.