Open Surgical Retrieval of a Foreign Body in the Neck: A Case Report
PD01-PD03
Correspondence
Dr. Sudhir Ramchandra Jayakar,
Professor, Department of General Surgery, Dr. DY Patil Medical College and Hospital and Research Centre, Dr. DY Patil Vidyapeeth, Pimpri, Pune-411018, Maharashtra, India.
E-mail: sudhirjayakar@gmail.com
Foreign body retention in the neck may be either traumatic or iatrogenic. Penetrating neck injuries with retained bodies are critical, as the neck serves as a passage for structures essential to life. Therefore, prompt detection and retrieval of the foreign body are paramount in preventing mortality. Here, authors present a case in which a successful surgical retrieval was performed without any postprocedural complications, despite the patient presenting relatively late after the injury. In this case report, a 23-year-old male labourer presented with a right-sided neck swelling two months after a workplace injury involving a shattered metal plate. Imaging confirmed a 15×5 mm hyperdense metallic object penetrating the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Successful open exploration extracted a 1.5 cm metallic shard at the C6 vertebral level, with no major vessel or airway damage. Postoperatively, the patient exhibited no movement restrictions, highlighting the atypical presentation of a retained metallic foreign body and the importance of timely intervention and comprehensive imaging for successful management.