Diagnosis and treatment of giant colonic fecalith in a child: a case report

Fecaliths are concretions composed of undigested or partially digested substances formed within the gastrointestinal lumen, potentially causing obstruction or partial obstruction. The most common type of fecalith is phytobezoar, composed of plant fibers. Due to their high cellulose, hemicellulose, a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Wei Su, Jing Chen, Yuxia Zhao, Pingping Xu, Jingwen Yuan, Chunqi Luo, Jie Liu, Baoxiang Wang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-05-01
Series:Frontiers in Pediatrics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2025.1598807/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850030699533303808
author Wei Su
Jing Chen
Yuxia Zhao
Pingping Xu
Jingwen Yuan
Chunqi Luo
Jie Liu
Baoxiang Wang
author_facet Wei Su
Jing Chen
Yuxia Zhao
Pingping Xu
Jingwen Yuan
Chunqi Luo
Jie Liu
Baoxiang Wang
author_sort Wei Su
collection DOAJ
description Fecaliths are concretions composed of undigested or partially digested substances formed within the gastrointestinal lumen, potentially causing obstruction or partial obstruction. The most common type of fecalith is phytobezoar, composed of plant fibers. Due to their high cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin content, phytobezoars remain undigested within the stomach and intestines, causing blockage in the narrowest portions of the gastrointestinal tract. Obstructions caused by fecaliths typically occur in the stomach and small intestine, whereas colonic obstructions are rare, particularly in pediatric cases. In this study, we report for the first time a case of colonic obstruction caused by a giant fecalith measuring 6 cm × 6 cm, which was successfully managed by colonoscopy-assisted manual extraction under general anesthesia.
format Article
id doaj-art-13fe1e9c2f824b73a2a22f53e0bfa0bf
institution DOAJ
issn 2296-2360
language English
publishDate 2025-05-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Pediatrics
spelling doaj-art-13fe1e9c2f824b73a2a22f53e0bfa0bf2025-08-20T02:59:10ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Pediatrics2296-23602025-05-011310.3389/fped.2025.15988071598807Diagnosis and treatment of giant colonic fecalith in a child: a case reportWei SuJing ChenYuxia ZhaoPingping XuJingwen YuanChunqi LuoJie LiuBaoxiang WangFecaliths are concretions composed of undigested or partially digested substances formed within the gastrointestinal lumen, potentially causing obstruction or partial obstruction. The most common type of fecalith is phytobezoar, composed of plant fibers. Due to their high cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin content, phytobezoars remain undigested within the stomach and intestines, causing blockage in the narrowest portions of the gastrointestinal tract. Obstructions caused by fecaliths typically occur in the stomach and small intestine, whereas colonic obstructions are rare, particularly in pediatric cases. In this study, we report for the first time a case of colonic obstruction caused by a giant fecalith measuring 6 cm × 6 cm, which was successfully managed by colonoscopy-assisted manual extraction under general anesthesia.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2025.1598807/fullfecalithintestinal obstructionphytobezoarcolonic stonemanual extraction
spellingShingle Wei Su
Jing Chen
Yuxia Zhao
Pingping Xu
Jingwen Yuan
Chunqi Luo
Jie Liu
Baoxiang Wang
Diagnosis and treatment of giant colonic fecalith in a child: a case report
Frontiers in Pediatrics
fecalith
intestinal obstruction
phytobezoar
colonic stone
manual extraction
title Diagnosis and treatment of giant colonic fecalith in a child: a case report
title_full Diagnosis and treatment of giant colonic fecalith in a child: a case report
title_fullStr Diagnosis and treatment of giant colonic fecalith in a child: a case report
title_full_unstemmed Diagnosis and treatment of giant colonic fecalith in a child: a case report
title_short Diagnosis and treatment of giant colonic fecalith in a child: a case report
title_sort diagnosis and treatment of giant colonic fecalith in a child a case report
topic fecalith
intestinal obstruction
phytobezoar
colonic stone
manual extraction
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fped.2025.1598807/full
work_keys_str_mv AT weisu diagnosisandtreatmentofgiantcolonicfecalithinachildacasereport
AT jingchen diagnosisandtreatmentofgiantcolonicfecalithinachildacasereport
AT yuxiazhao diagnosisandtreatmentofgiantcolonicfecalithinachildacasereport
AT pingpingxu diagnosisandtreatmentofgiantcolonicfecalithinachildacasereport
AT jingwenyuan diagnosisandtreatmentofgiantcolonicfecalithinachildacasereport
AT chunqiluo diagnosisandtreatmentofgiantcolonicfecalithinachildacasereport
AT jieliu diagnosisandtreatmentofgiantcolonicfecalithinachildacasereport
AT baoxiangwang diagnosisandtreatmentofgiantcolonicfecalithinachildacasereport