Pre-operative diagnosis of pancreatic abscess from a penetrating fish bone

A 53-year-old woman presented to our emergency department because of worsening abdominal pain and fever for 2 days. She had suffered from intermittent, dull abdominal pain over the epigastric area in the previous 3 months. Previous examination, including upper endoscopy and abdominal X-ray film, did not disclose significant abnormality. On examination, she was febrile with severe tenderness over the epigastric area. Abdominal sonography revealed a hypoechoic mass around the pancreas with a linear hyperechoic structure in it (Figure 1, arrow). Abdominal computed …