Image of the Day 28: Needle Ingestion

A 12 years old boy who was playing with needle accidentally ingested it and was brought to casualty by the parent because of neck pain. He otherwise did not develop any sign of airway obstruction.

Radiological imaging shows a needle inside the trachea.

Foreign body that has being ingested usually pass spontaneously throughout gastrointestinal tract without any complication except for less than 1% of population. Sharp object may associated with perforation of the stomach or bowel. Retained foreign body may cause gastrointestinal erosion or abrasion and leading to bleeding.

Zeynep Ozkan et al, (2011) reported an interesting case of needle migratory. On the serial X ray imaging, the needle was seen to pass the terminal ileum and transverse colon but somehow migrated to thorax and settle down in lower lobe of the left lung. Meanwhile Mesut Bulakci et al (2011) reported a case of needle ingestion that migrate to liver.