Acute intestinal obstruction caused by a persimmon phytobezoar after dissolution therapy with Coca-Cola

Bezoars are concretions or hard masses of foreign matter that are found in the gastrointestinal tract. Recent reports have demonstrated the efficacy of Coca-Cola administration for the dissolution of phytobezors. Here we report on a 73-year-old man with a very large gastric persimmon diospyrobezoar, and this caused small intestinal obstruction after partial dissolution with oral and injected Coca-Cola.

Laparoscopic management of intestinal obstruction due to phytobezoar

Phytobezoars are a rare cause of small-bowel obstruction and an accurate preoperative diagnosis is very difficult. After diagnosis, the majority of patients in this study underwent surgery. The conventional management of small-bowel obstruction is done by laparotomy. Many studies have demonstrated that laparoscopy can be an alternative to laparotomy for the treatment of small-bowel obstruction in select patients, and it also brings the benefits of minimally invasive surgery. This report demonstrates the case of a patient with intestinal obstruction caused by phytobezoar (mango seed) who was treated laparoscopically. During the laparoscopy, a hard mass 5 cm proximal to the ileocaecal junction was palpable with graspers. An ileotomy was then performed. The bezoar was extracted and inserted into a bag. In this case, the intestinal obstruction management by laparoscopy was safe and feasible.