Gastric Foreign Body

"Chelsea", a six year old female Shitz-zu was brought to the clinic because the owner had just observed her swallow a large steak bone. She was not showing any symptoms at the time of presentation. Abdominal radiographs were taken.

The radiographs clearly showed a radiopaque foreign body (arrows) in the region of the stomach. Although the bone had not yet caused any symptoms, it was felt that it would eventually move from the stomach into the small intestine where it would be too large to pass through and cause an intestinal obstruction. The decision was made to operate and remove the bone.

The first image shows "Chelsea" immediately after surgery. Below is the bone that was removed from the stomach. "Chelsea" made an uneventful recovery and was released from the hospital the following day.