When ‘winner winner chicken dinner’ turned into a catastrophe: Intestinal perforation, a case of acute abdomen, a clinical case study

Intestinal perforation due to an ingested foreign body is a serious complication; although it is often misdiagnosed, while treatment gets delayed due to non-specific symptoms. The present case report describes the case of small bowel perforation due to an ingested chicken bone wherein a 35-year-old female patient presented to the emergency department with a complaint of lower abdominal pain for 2 days. Based on history and symptom review, initially, a working diagnosis of a case of the ruptured haemorrhagic cyst was given, while the ultrasonography findings of the abdomen and pelvis, also, pointed towards a similar diagnosis. As the symptoms worsened, a computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen was advised to rule-out acute appendicitis, although, the CT findings revealed a foreign body perforating the small bowel. The patient was subsequently advised laparoscopy-assisted foreign body removal with segmental jejunal resection and an end-to-end anastomosis. The patient had an uneventful post-operative recovery, and was eventually, discharged on the 2nd post-operative day.