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Case Reports
. 2025 Aug 18;17(8):e90419.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.90419. eCollection 2025 Aug.

Small Bowel Obstruction Secondary to an Ingested Iron "Stay Fresh" Pack

Robinson D Taylor  1 , Zachary Kehrt  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Small Bowel Obstruction Secondary to an Ingested Iron "Stay Fresh" Pack

Robinson D Taylor et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

"Stay-fresh" packets are commonly used items to prevent oxygen or water from damaging items. These are routinely placed in food items such as meat jerky, nuts, dried fruits, and breads, and are usually not toxic when ingested. While a few case reports have described esophageal obstruction following the ingestion of silica stay-fresh packets, no case reports to date have documented pathology resulting from the ingestion of iron stay-fresh packets in otherwise healthy individuals. In this case report, a 51-year-old man presented to the ER with abdominal pain. The CT scan indicated severe proximal bowel distention with distal enteritis, along with a possible small bowel foreign body. The patient denied ingesting any foreign bodies. Abdominal exam gradually worsened, and an exploratory laparotomy was performed, revealing an obstruction secondary to an ingested iron "stay-fresh" packet.

Keywords: bowel obstruction; emergency medicine; ingested foreign body; iron; silica; stay fresh packet.

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Conflict of interest statement

Human subjects: Informed consent for treatment and open access publication was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Patient’s computed tomography revealing a foreign body (red arrow) in the ileum with proximal small bowel dilation.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Transverse view of CT scan with the foreign body pictured
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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