Foreign Body (Chicken Bone) Leading to Perforation of the Small Bowel within Irreducible Paraumbilical Hernia: Case Report

Introduction: Poor chewing process in older people can lead to situations where they do not expel hard food particles like small chicken bones. In cases of abnormal sharp angulation of the chime passage through gut, like paraumbilical hernia, the hard, sharp content of an ingested chicken bone may cause local perforation at the antimesenteric side of the bowel, creating a surgical emergency. Case presentation: We report the case of a 53-year-old female known to have a recurrent paraumbilical hernia. The patient presented to the emergency department with features of incarcerated paraumbilical hernia. Operative findings were a perforation at the antimesenteric side of the small bowel by a chicken bone, contained within the hernia sac, with localized abscess within the hernia sac. The patient was discharged postoperatively in good condition, patient showed uneventful recovery in her outpatient visits afterwards. Conclusion: Small, sharp, difficult-to-digest food particles like chicken bones may cause bowel perforation in irreducible paraumbilical hernias.