Background: In a period of 5 years, 2 patients with enterolith ileus, caused by jejunal diverticulosis, were treated in our hospital. In order to learn more about treatment options, the literature was reviewed. Methods: The case history of the 2 patients is described. Relevant articles were identified using Medline^® and PubMed^®. Data regarding patient gender, age, operative findings, therapeutic measures and outcome were collected. Results: Including patients reported in the literature, 34 cases of intestinal obstruction due to enteroliths expelled from jejunal diverticula were identified. A distinction is made between complicated and uncomplicated enterolith ileus. If there are signs of bowel ischemia, other (unborn) enteroliths, inflammation of the bowel or if there are signs of a (sealed) perforation, the case is considered a complicated enterolith ileus. If none of these signs are present, uncomplicated enterolith ileus is present. In uncomplicated enterolith ileus (21 patients), more often milking and crushing or enterotomy was performed. In complicated enterolith ileus (13 patients), more often a segmental resection of the involved jejunum was performed (p < 0.01). Conclusion: Small bowel obstruction due to enteroliths expelled from jejunal diverticula is a rare condition. Relevant literature is only available in the form of case reports. On the basis of the presented patients and patients reported in the literature, a justifiable therapeutic strategy is presented. The least invasive step in the therapeutic approach is to crush and milk the obstructing enterolith down to the colon. Laparoscopic crushing and milking of the enterolith is described. If this fails an enterotomy could be tried, if possible proximal or distal from the obstruction site, in order to make an incision in a less edematous area. If the first two strategies fail, or if complicated enterolith ileus is present, resection of the involved jejunal segment could be considered.

A perforation due to the ingestion of a toothpick is a condition seldom seen in the stomach. We herein describe an 80-year-old woman with a perforation of the stomach due to an ingested hollow toothpick. The toothpick was easily removed during a mini-laparotomy. The site of perforation was closed with absorbable sutures and omentum was used to function as an overlying patch. The postoperative course was uncomplicated. The hollow toothpick functioned as a fistula between the contents of the stomach and the peritoneal cavity. This resulted in a very different clinical picture from that observed in "classical wooden" toothpick injury, where the toothpick is not able to function as a fistula. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first description of a hollow toothpick perforating the stomach. A hollow toothpick perforation must be considered in any patient with symptoms of intestinal perforation, even when there is no history of swallowing toothpicks. Removal of a toothpick and subsequent suturing of the puncture site is a simple and relatively minor surgical procedure, which may have a lower morbidity and mortality as compared to other causes of gastric perforation. A precaution to observe, is the potential danger that one of the members of the operating team might perforate a finger.

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Gastrointestinal intussusception is an uncommon condition caused by a pendunculated, gastric tumor being forced through the pyloric sphincter and into the duodenum. An extremely rare case of gastrojejunal intussusception caused by a giant gastric lipoma is described in this article. The patient presented with anemia and weight loss. Initial gastroduodenal endoscopy failed to establish the diagnosis but abdominal ultrasound and computed tomography revealed signs of intussusception possibly associated with a lipoma of the small bowel. At laparotomy a pendunculated, submucosal, gastric lipoma, measuring 10 × 5 cm was found to have been intussuscepted into the jejunum. It was reduced and removed through a gastrotomy. Recovery was uneventful.

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