Perforation Due to a Rectal Foreign Body and Radiological Findings

Rectal foreign bodies have been increasingly seen and cause urgent surgical complications. Diagnosis and treatment of these cases in emergency departments may be difficult. The effective use of radiological imaging techniques can accelerate and facilitate this process. Case Presentation: A 65-year-old male patient, who underwent computed tomography (CT) with the suspicion of a foreign body in the rectum, was admitted to the emergency outpatient clinic. The patient was a male with a psychiatric illness who later underwent emergency surgery. Since the patient had impaired consciousness during the examination, anamnesis could not be obtained, so the initial impression upon surgical consultation was perforation due to rectal tumoral thickening. In almost all cases, plain radiography is sufficient and can eliminate diagnostic difficulties. However, this is not possible for non-opaque objects. Therefore, the CT scan played an important role in the diagnosis of this patient. A 30 cm foreign body, identified as salami, was removed from the abdomen of the patient, who was later taken for emergency surgery. Conclusion: The guiding role of radiological examinations in diagnosis and treatment was discussed, and it was emphasized that CT is a problem-solving tool for rectal foreign bodies.