US of Soft-Tissue Foreign Bodies and Associated Complications with Surgical Correlation1
- Tedric D. Boyse, MD,
- David P. Fessell, MD,
- Jon A. Jacobson, MD,
- John Lin, MD,
- Marnix T. van Holsbeeck, MD and
- Curtis W. Hayes, MD
- 1From the Department of Radiology, Taubman Center Rm 2810G, University of Michigan Medical Center, 1500 E Medical Center Dr, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0326 (T.D.B., D.P.F., J.A.J., J.L., C.W.H.); the Department of Radiology, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Mich (M.T.v.H.); and Valley Radiologists, Glendale, Ariz (J.L.). Received December 11, 2000; revision requested March 16, 2001, and received April 16; accepted April 17. Address correspondence to D.P.F.
Abstract
Ultrasonography (US) allows detection of a variety of soft-tissue foreign bodies, including wood splinters, glass, metal, and plastic, along with evaluation of their associated soft-tissue complications. Cases were obtained from the authors’ clinical experience over the past 1.5 years. Surgical correlation allowed confirmation of the presence of a foreign body and associated soft-tissue complications in all cases. All of the foreign bodies were echogenic when imaged with US. A surrounding hypoechoic rim and posterior acoustic shadowing or reverberation aided detection in several cases. Associated soft-tissue complications included a complete laceration of the posterior tibial tendon and septic flexor digitorum tenosynovitis. US allows accurate and efficient detection of radiolucent soft-tissue foreign bodies and aids assessment of their associated complications. For radiopaque foreign bodies, US can provide more precise localization and improved assessment of the surrounding soft tissues. US has emerged as the study of choice for detection and localization of radiolucent soft-tissue foreign bodies and can aid assessment of their associated complications.
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