[Foreign body granuloma of the head of the pancreas caused by a fish bone--a rare differential diagnosis in head of the pancreas tumor].

Despite highly developed scanning methods there is no absolute certainty of delineating malignant pancreatic tumor from chronic pancreatitis. Pancreatitis caused by foreign bodies has occasionally been mentioned in literature. Our report is on the first case of a foreign body granuloma of the pancreatic head caused by a fish-bone transduodenally perforating the pancreas. On preoperative CT and ultrasound as well as by intraoperative inspection and palpation the lesion appeared malignant, so we saw the indication for Whipple's operation. Although the histological examination showed a benign state, taking into account the generally bad prognosis, in case of suspected malignant pancreatic tumor we plead for resection as the only possible form of curative therapy.