The case material, consisting of 18 patients who had ingested alíen bodies, is from the Penitentiary Hospitalof Montevideo. Of these patients, only two· had to be laparotomized since the alilé'n bo,;iy had becom<¡i stuck;in the remainder of cases it was spontaneously expelled within a period which ranged between one and 26 days.The authors favour an expectant medica! treatment, assoeiated with clinical and ra,;iiologic control.

Los autores presentan una casuística de 18 casos d,e ingestión de cuerpos _extraño provenientes del Hospital Penitenciario (Montevideo). Sólo 2 enfermos debieron ser laparotomizados por estar los C.E. atrapad,os; el resto de los pacientes expulsaron es:,pontáneamente los C. E. en un plazo variable entre 1 y 26 días. Se manifiestan partidarios del tratamiento médico espectante asociado al control clinico - radiológico._