Gastric wall abscess is a one form of phlegmonous gastritis and there are scare reports on this. Gastric wall abscess is a purulent inflammatory disease and it is commonly caused by a focal injury to the gastric mucosa such as a penetrating trauma from an ingested foreign body or an endoscopic biopsy where by bacterial infection occurs throughout all the layers of the gastric wall. With symptoms such as abdominal pain and fever, making the diagnosis after an operation was possible in the past, but it has recently become possible to make the diagnosis before the operation via esophagogastroduodenoscopy, endoscopic ultrasonography and/or abdominal computed tomography. We recently experienced a case of gastric wall abscess that was associated with a foreign body (presumably a fish bone) in a healthy middle aged woman. By performing generalized esophagogastroduodenoscopy and abdominal computed tomography at a primary medical institution, we made an early diagnosis and treated the patient. Herein, we report on this case and we review the relevant literature.
Abdominal Pain ; Abscess ; Bacterial Infections ; Biopsy ; Cellulitis ; Early Diagnosis ; Eating ; Endoscopy, Digestive System ; Endosonography ; Female ; Fever ; Foreign Bodies ; Gastric Mucosa ; Gastritis ; Humans ; Middle Aged

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer is the most common malignancy in Korea. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the chronological changes of clinical feature and usefulness of recent treatment modalities such as laparoscopic assisted gastrectomy and endoscopic gastric mucosal resection (EMR). METHODS: We analyzed the clinical characteristics of the gastric cancer patients who were diagnosed as gastric cancer by pathology from May 2003 to May 2004 in Seoul National University Bundang Hospital. In addition, we classified the curable treatment modalities depending on whether it was early gastric cancer or advanced gastric cancer. RESULTS: The total number of patients was 231, and the proportion of early gastric cancer was 97 patients (42.0%). Forty three patients (18.6%) were diagnosed through health screening test. Curative treatment was performed in 169 patients (73.2%): that is, radical subtotal gastrectomy in 158 (68.4%), and EMR in 11 (4.8%). Among 158 patients who underwent curative radical surgery, 67 patients (42.4%) had been operated on laparoscopic gastrectomy (laparoscopic-assisted distal gastrectomy or laparoscopic wedge resection). There was no cancer recurrence in the early gastric cancer after curative treatment regardless of treatment modality during mean follow-up period of 15.9 months. CONCLUSIONS: These results seem to support the usefulness of health screening test for early detection of gastric cancer. Laparoscopic gastrectomy could be the primary choice for the early gastric cancer.
Follow-Up Studies ; Gastrectomy ; Humans ; Korea ; Mass Screening ; Pathology ; Recurrence ; Seoul ; Stomach Neoplasms*