Ultrasound for the detection of retained plastic and undetected metallic foreign bodies in the foot

Abstract

Foreign bodies in soft tissue may cause serious problems for both emergency physicians and orthopaedic surgeons. Wooden or plastic foreign bodies which are diolucent can not be diagnosed with direct graphy and they are more prone to cause soft tissue complication unless they detect. We present two cases with retained plastic and metallic foreign bodies including in their right feet of a farmer and a constructor which could not diagnosed with plain film and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Definitive treatment was done after detecting the foreign bodies with ultrasonography (US).