A 60-year-old Italian man arrived at our department with abdominal distension and acute periumbilical pain. Over the two preceding years, our patient had undergone an extensive negative workup performed for recurrent episodes of abdominal pain and diarrhea, including comprehensive blood and stool studies, CT, abdominal ultrasound, esophogastroduodenoscopy, colonoscopy, barium enema and small bowel follow-through. Twenty-four hours prior to his arrival, our patient had undergone CE, the results of which were still pending.\nOn admission, our patient was febrile. His physical examination revealed a distended abdomen with increased bowel sounds and marked tenderness in the right lower quadrant. Laboratory tests showed a white blood cell count of 16,300 cells/mL (normal: 4,500 to 10,500 cells/mL) and hemoglobin of 10.7g/dL (normal: 12g/dL to 16g/dL).\nA CT scan of his abdomen was performed and showed the presence of the capsule endoscope located in his distal ileum and a stricture along with extensive small bowel distension, a thickened bowel wall and loculated free air (Figure ). Our patient underwent an urgent laparotomy. During the surgical exploration, an ileum perforation was noted proximal to an inflammatory-like stricture located in his distal ileum (Figure ), which led to the resection of the inflamed segment with ileocolic anastomosis. Histology confirmed the diagnosis of Crohn’s disease. His postsurgical course was uneventful, and our patient was discharged 10 days later and treated subsequently with medications for Crohn’s disease with good results.
A 71-year-old man was admitted to the department of gastroenterology with diffuse abdominal pain. Through the previous 12 months, the patient had experienced episodes of vomiting and watery diarrhea of increasing intensity as well as weight loss. Both abdominal ultrasound and MRI had shown signs of terminal ileitis. Despite also having undergone a full colonoscopy and gastroscopy without confirmation of inflammatory bowel disease, the patient was suspected of having Crohn's disease. Six months prior to admission, the patient had swallowed a capsule endoscope, and the image feed was deemed normal.\nOn presentation, an abdominal CT-scan was performed (), showing mechanical small bowel obstruction with suspicion of metallic foreign body and perforation. Lab results showed C-reactive protein (CRP) of 204 mg/L.\nThe patient was taken to theater for a laparotomy. In the terminal ileum, approximately 5 cm from the ileocecal valve, a stenosis and a foreign body were found. Adhesions, chronic inflammation, and fibrinous cover characterized the area. A small perforation with localized fecal peritonitis was discovered near the ileocecal valve. A right hemicolectomy and distal ileectomy (60 cm) with an ileostomy were performed. On further inspection of resection, a capsule endoscope was found impacted in a stenosis (). The stenosis was histologically verified as Crohn's disease. The ileostomy was later reversed without complications.