Incidental Laparoscopic Discovery of an Intraperitoneal Plastic Catheter 16 Years after an Unsafe Abortion: A Case Report from the Gynecologic, Obstetric, and Pediatric Hospital of Yaoundé (Cameroon)‎

Abstract EN

In many developing countries like Cameroon, unsafe abortion is a major public health problem.

It can be responsible for severe complications including damage to the digestive and/or urinary tract, sepsis, and uterine perforation.

Uterine perforation could be caused by most of the instruments that are used to evacuate the uterus.

We report a case of apparent uterine perforation and subsequent migration of the plastic or rubber catheter into the peritoneal cavity during an abortion procedure performed in a setting that may have been unsafe.

The discovery was made during a diagnostic laparoscopy indicated for secondary infertility of tubal origin 16 years after the abortion procedure.

This is a rare clinical finding which is of therapeutic and diagnostic importance.

To the best of our knowledge, a single similar case has been reported so far in the literature.