The Department of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, 108 Central Military Hospital received a male patient (38 years old) transferred from Bac Quang District Hospital (Ha Giang province) with symptoms of abdominal pain and indigestion.
Gastroscopy performed at the previous level showed a foreign body mass of food residue but could not be removed.
The endoscopy process revealed that the foreign body was a thick yellow food mass, black in color, in the stomach cavity, restricting circulation. Immediately, the team proceeded to cut the food mass into small pieces. Fortunately, because the patient was detected early, the foreign body did not cause complications such as ulcers or gastric bleeding. After the intervention, the patient was stable and was instructed to follow up at home.
Medical history revealed that recently, the patient had eaten a large amount of homegrown wild yam with honey for a long time, especially when hungry.
The arrowroot is one of the fruits with high fiber content. Consuming a large amount of foods with high fiber content such as persimmons, guavas, figs, and bamboo shoots can be one of the risks of forming food residue during digestion. In particular, if eaten when hungry, the stomach is still empty, they are easily precipitated, causing the plant fibers to stick together, forming a solid mass of residue that gradually grows larger over time, causing symptoms for patients such as bloating, indigestion, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, gastrointestinal bleeding due to ulcers at the site of pressure friction, intestinal obstruction, etc.
Dr. Bui Thi Mai Huong - National Institute of Nutrition - said that adults need to eat an average of 18 - 20g of fiber per day. Each person's ability to tolerate fiber will be different because for each age, the amount of nutrients needed to be absorbed into the body will be different. Elderly people need to increase their fiber intake due to poor intestinal motility, but do not supplement too much because consuming too much is also harmful.
Eating too much fiber can cause diarrhea, accumulate in the colon and stimulate digestion many times. It is important to note that the body should not fall into a state of excess fiber. Because excess fiber will significantly reduce the ability to absorb vitamins and minerals.
People should limit the use of foods containing a lot of fiber, especially should not eat when hungry, eat slowly, chew thoroughly and drink plenty of water. If you experience abdominal pain, nausea after accidentally swallowing large pieces of food or eating sticky substances, you should go to a reputable medical facility to detect foreign food early, avoiding unwanted complications.
