“Thought It Was Indigestion After Eating a Hamburger” ... Months Later, a 7-Centimeter “Weapon” That Had Pierced the “Liver” of a Man in His 40s Came to Light, Shocking [Warning Signs]

[Financial News] A man in his 40s, identified as A, took a large bite out of a thick handmade hamburger. He felt something pass down his throat with a stiff, uncomfortable sensation, but assumed he had not chewed the meat patty thoroughly. For several days, he felt bloated and as though he had indigestion, but kept going about his daily life, downing digestive medication. Months later, however, he had to undergo emergency surgery amid excruciating pain as his liver was pierced.
This is a typical case of a “toothpick-induced liver abscess,” a condition reported with some frequency in emergency medicine and surgical circles around the world in recent years, raising alarm.
The events began several months earlier. A had been suffering from a stabbing pain in his right upper abdomen, a high fever approaching 40°C and chills when he was brought to the emergency room. His blood test results were dire. C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation in the body, was several dozen times the normal level.
The medical team immediately performed an abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan. The condition of A’s “liver” on the screen was dire. A severe liver abscess—a large pocket of pus formed as bacteria multiply inside the liver—had developed. But what left the medical team incredulous was a linear (line-shaped) foreign object about 7 cm long lodged in the middle of the abscess.


Emergency open surgery (or laparoscopic surgery) was performed immediately. After draining the pus pressing on the liver and carefully incising the surrounding tissue, the sharp weapon hidden amid the blood-red inflammation finally came into view.
Amazingly, it was a wooden toothpick of the kind used to hold together thick foods such as hamburgers and club sandwiches.
How could a toothpick possibly pass through the esophagus and stomach and penetrate the “liver”? The answer lies in the compact arrangement of the body’s organs and the constant movement of the digestive tract.
The toothpick A had swallowed without noticing passed through his esophagus and reached either his stomach or duodenum. With its sharp tip lodged in the stomach wall, the toothpick pierced the mucous membrane and emerged fully into the abdominal cavity as the stomach contracted forcefully (peristalsis) to digest food. As it happened, the “liver,” the largest organ in the human body, lies right next to the stomach and duodenum. The toothpick that pierced the stomach wall went straight into the adjacent liver, spreading deadly bacteria and creating a huge pocket of pus.
There was another reason this terrifying “assassin” went undetected for months. Unlike fish bones or metal objects, wooden or plastic toothpicks pass through the rays in standard chest or abdominal X-rays and are completely invisible. Only after an abdominal ultrasound or detailed CT scan can doctors detect a faint outline, so in most cases the condition is misdiagnosed or dismissed as simple gastritis, allowing it to worsen.
Fortunately, A was able to recover his liver function after the toothpick was safely removed and he underwent long-term treatment with high-dose antibiotics. It was a terrifying situation: if the toothpick had pierced his aorta or a nearby major blood vessel instead of his liver, he could have died on the spot from excessive bleeding.
Medical professionals are warning people today, as food delivery and eating out have become more common. When eating hamburgers, sandwiches, fruit skewers and similar foods, they say, people must check carefully to see whether toothpicks or decorative pins are stuck in them and remove them.
The complacent misjudgment of a man in his 40s: “I thought I had indigestion.” The 7-cm wooden skewer in the food he had ordered for delivery, swallowed without him noticing, silently pierced his stomach wall and slowly ate away at his liver for months.


[email protected] Jeon Sang-il Reporter