On February 4, 2026, Cho Ray Hospital (HCMC) said that patient N.V.T. (65 years old, residing in HCMC) was just discharged from the hospital after a period of stable treatment because a toothpick foreign object pierced the liver parenchyma, a rare case with many serious complications if not treated promptly.
Doctor CKI Ma Phuoc Nguyen - Deputy Head of the Department of Gastroenterology, Cho Ray Hospital said that the initial abdominal ultrasound results recorded images of liver abscesses. However, the abscess was located quite deep in the liver parenchyma, with atypical manifestations, causing doctors to suspect abnormalities and order the patient to be hospitalized for further in-depth paraclinical tests.
The foreign object is estimated to be about 6-7 cm long. Faced with the risk of severe complications such as widespread infection, abscess rupture or major blood vessel damage, the patient had an inter-departmental consultation of Internal Gastroenterology and Hepatobiliary Surgery, agreeing to have surgery to remove the foreign object, drain the abscess and treat with antibiotics.
Sharing about the case, MSc.BS Tran Dinh Quoc - Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery said that the surgery encountered many difficulties because the abscess was deep in the liver, located near the diaphragm and large blood vessels. Initially, the team planned to perform laparoscopic surgery but had to switch to a safe approach, causing the surgery time to be twice as long as in normal liver abscess cases.
The foreign object removed was a toothpick. It is worth mentioning that both the patient and his family did not remember clearly when they swallowed the foreign object. Only when carefully exploiting the medical history was it discovered that the patient had a habit of regularly holding a toothpick after eating. The foreign object may have penetrated the digestive tract wall, silently moving into the liver and causing localized infection," MSc. Dr. Tran Dinh Quoc said.
According to experts, digestive foreign objects are not uncommon, but cases of foreign objects located entirely in liver parenchyma like this case are relatively rare. Cho Ray Hospital has recently received many cases of foreign objects causing abdominal abscesses, not only due to fish bones but also increasingly recorded cases related to bamboo toothpicks.
