Even though variety of foreign bodies has been reported in a various locations in the craniofacial region, wooden foreign bodies are uncommon. Appropriate management of wooden foreign bodies is considered essential because of their infectious complications and difficulty in radiographic localization. Even though literature is replete with articles on management of foreign bodies in the craniofacial region, specific management of wooden foreign bodies are rarely reported. The purpose of this article is to report two cases of deeply placed wooden foreign body and a protocol for managing them in the maxillofacial region.
A 12-year-old boy with moderate to severe bilateral mixed hearing loss was planned for hearing aid placement. During the process of making ear mould impression, the impression material accidentally entered the right middle ear. Removal of the ear mould impression was possible permeatally under general anaesthesia.
Splinter or foreign body removal from the hand and foot is a common occurrence. Usually only the deep seated, broken or missed splinters are referred to the surgeon for removal. Unless the object is radio-opaque, plain radiograph will not give any useful information, hence removal can sometimes be very difficult and traumatic. We are reporting a case where a radiolucent splinter was removed with the aid of ultrasonography. This modality can help to localize a splinter at the pre and intra-operative period, minimizing amount of exploration and time of operation.
I would like to report the case of a Chinese boy of 5 years old who came to see me with a ball-bearing in one of his ears. Repeated attempts were made to extricate it under general anaesthesia by means of several kinds of aural apparatus, but they all failed. While about to give up hope and hand him over to a specialist, I managed to borrow a pair of magnetic forceps from a radio mechanic. The ball-bearing was immediately attracted to the point of the forceps and drawn out with ease. It would not be a bad idea to design a magnetic aural (or nasal) forceps based upon the above principles with a view to avoiding unnecessary pain and misery to the young victims.
A total of 36 patients with suspected foreign body (FB) of the oesophagus who underwent rigid endoscopy under general anaesthesia (GA) from January 2005 to March 2007 were reviewed. The majority of the patients were working adults in the 3rd to 5th decade of life. There was no foreign body in 33.3% of the patients. Co-morbidities were present in 33.3%. Morbidity and mortality from the procedure included one aspiration pneumonia, one lateral pharyngeal wall tear and one death (8.3%). X-ray findings were negative or inconclusive in 11(45.8%) patients with a foreign body. The majority of patients, 85.7% required 2 to 3 days of admission of which 52.7% had no foreign bodies. The most common foreign body retrieved was fishbone accounting for 13 of the 24 foreign bodies detected.
Two cases of longstanding foreign bodies in the larynx and lower laryngo-pharynx were accurately localised by direct coronal3 and limited axial CT scans of the neck. The relationship of the foreign bodies with the surrounding structures and associated changes are demonstrated clearly.
We experienced the case of a patient who had a foreign body in the maxillary sinus. The foreign body was an arrow accidentally triggered by the patient while fishing. The foreign body was removed via the Caldwell-Luc approach.
From 1973 to 1982,40 children with respiratory distress was bronchoscoped for suspected foreign body in the trachea-bronchial tree. In 31 children, foreign bodies were found and were successfully removed. The condition appeared to be confined to the early toddler group. Six children had pulmonary complications post-operatively. There was no death. A plea is made for early diagnosis and referral to lessen the likelihood of residual pulmonary damage.
Study site: University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (current name: University Malaya Medical Centre)
Two cases oj dentures impacted in the oesophagus are presented. One patient had an intrathoracic perforation oj the oesophagus. The complications arising from. impacted foreign bodies and attempts at its removal are discussed. It is suggested that primary oesophagostomy and extraction of the foreign. body may be the better alternative than repeated attempts at extraction through the oesophagoscope.
A successful retrieval of a detached segment of a CVP catheter by percutaneous right transfemoral venous route, using a Dotter intravascular retriever basket, is reported. The procedure was monitored under fluoroscopy. Only local anaesthesia, which was infiltrated around the puncture site, was given to the patient. No significant complication was encountered. Successful retrieval of the detached catheter fragment by percutaneous means obviates the need for thoracotomy.
Chronic discharging ear, mostly due to middle or external ear infection, is one of the leading causes for seeking healthcare among the paediatric population in a developing country. However, a long-standing forgotten middle ear foreign body forms a rare cause for such presentation demanding a high index of suspicion from the clinicians. Most of them are iatrogenic or accidental, and are removed by conventional permeatal approach; need for tympanotomy is rarely documented in the recent literature. We report the first case where a large stone was introduced into the middle ear through a pre-existing tympanic membrane perforation by the child himself, and only the second documentation of removal of a middle ear foreign body by tympanotomy in a child.
Susuk, or charm needles, are inserted and worn subcutaneously in the face and other parts of the body, as they are believed to enhance beauty and youth, and for many other reasons such as treatment of headache, aches and pains in the joints, back or abdomen. The practice of inserting susuk is a traditional belief, genuinely cultural and superstitious, and common in the south-east Asian region. We present 13 cases of susuk, which was found incidentally on the radiographs as the patients came for various types of treatment at our centre.