enterolith

An enterolith is not to be confused with a gastrolith, which helps digestion.

A bezoar may form the nidus of an enterolith.

An enterolith is a mineral concretion or calculus formed anywhere in the gastrointestinal system.

An enterolith typically forms within a diverticulum.

Rarely, an enterolith may form.

Luminal obstruction due to tumors, enterolith, foreign body, causing stasis or bacterial infection.

Most of these pathological types of diverticulum are capable of harboring an enterolith.

Bowel obstruction and ileus typically occur when a large enterolith is expelled from a diverticulum into the lumen.

In simple cases of obstruction, where there are no complications, a variety of non-surgical and surgical techniques are used to remove the enterolith.

An enterolith may form around a nidus, a small foreign object such as a seed, pebble, or piece of twine, that serves as an irritant.

A differential diagnosis of an enterolith requires the enterolith, a normal gallbladder, and a diverticulum.

They sometimes can be visualized on CT scans without contrast; presence of contrast in the lumen may reveal the enterolith as a void.

An enterolith formed in a Meckel's diverticulum sometimes is known as a Meckel's enterolith.

If the enterolith stays in place, it may cause no problems, but a large enterolith expelled from a diverticulum into the lumen can cause obstruction.

These include crushing the enterolith and milking it back to the stomach or forward to the colon, surgical removal via an uninvolved segment of the gastrointestinal tract, and resection of the involved segment.