Foreign body impaction in the sigmoid colon: a twenty euro bet.

Foreign body ingestion is a common clinical problem in early childhood. However, it may occur even in adults, unknowingly. Most ingested foreign bodies entering the stomach pass through the gastrointestinal tract uneventfully. Here we report on a 13-year-old boy who presented with chronic abdominal pain, weight loss and occult gastrointestinal bleeding for 6 mo. Colonoscopy was negative; however, a ballpoint pen was impacted in the sigmoid region. Subsequently, the child admitted swallowing a pen as a 20-euro bet 6 mo previously. Crohn's disease is a chronic relapsing inflammatory gastrointestinal disease. It is often difficult to diagnose due to the fact that there is no single pathognomonic sign or symptom. This case is a description of an adolescent with chronic gastrointestinal symptoms due to a foreign body. Therefore, an ingested foreign body should be included in the differential diagnostic procedure related to gastrointestinal symptoms.