Foreign bodies of various kinds have been found occasionally in the gall bladder in association with gallstones. It is probable that the presence of a foreign body in the gall bladder may, under certain conditions, be concerned in the etiology of the stones. The question of whether any foreign body can produce gallstones quite unaided by micro-organisms has been rather conclusively answered in the negative. It is certain that smooth foreign objects may occupy the gall bladder for a long period without retention of precipitated bile salts.
Jaques Meyer introduced small ivory balls into the gall bladders of test animals and found no stones after a year.
Mignot1 also found that certain foreign bodies, if aseptic, may be retained in the gall bladder for a long time without causing inflammation or precipitation of solids from the bile. Mignot, in his investigations found, also, that foreign bodies impregnated with virulent