Imaging of foreign bodies: a radiological conundrum

BMJ Case Rep. 2017 Oct 4:2017:bcr2017219706. doi: 10.1136/bcr-2017-219706.

Abstract

A 24-year-old woman escaped a fire by jumping from the first floor of her house onto a temporary greenhouse. She was brought into the emergency department and later treated surgically. Three years after the initial episode a tender lump in her right thigh was found during regular follow-up for her acute myeloid leukaemia, for which she was in remission. This was treated as a suspicious mass due to her haematological history and further imaging was organised. This was later identified as a piece of the greenhouse that she had landed on 7 years previously. It is a common occurrence for foreign bodies to be missed on initial examination. Fortunately the patient recovered well from her physical wounds and, more importantly, remains humorous when reflecting on her almost 7-year long battle with a piece of plastic.

Keywords: accidents, injuries; orthopaedic and trauma surgery; orthopaedics; radiology; trauma.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Burns*
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Female
  • Foreign-Body Reaction / diagnosis*
  • Foreign-Body Reaction / diagnostic imaging
  • Humans
  • Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute*
  • Plastics
  • Thigh / injuries*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed
  • Young Adult

Substances

  • Plastics