A 45-year-old man’s new diabetes diagnosis masked the presence of a foreign body in his abdomen — until a CT scan revealed that something fishy had made its way into his omentum.

The case underscores the need for clinical vigilance when diabetes complicates an already murky diagnostic picture.

The patient presented to Ibn Sina Hospital in Yemen with severe right lower quadrant abdominal pain, intermittent fever (38.5°C), fatigue and nausea. The pain was dull, did not radiate and was aggravated by movement.

He reported mild discomfort in his throat during a fish meal 10 days earlier.