Missed intranasal wooden foreign bodies on computed tomography

Abstract

We report a case of post traumatic impacted intranasal wooden foreign body in a 16 year old boy, which was undetected on Computed Tomography in the acute stage. Intranasal wooden foreign body may be missed on CT in the acute stage because of apparent air attenuation of the foreign body and lack of contrast with the surrounding intranasal air. Radiologists need to be aware of the CT imaging appearances of wood in various stages for early detection and management.

A Case of Wooden Foreign-Body Ingestion

“…Radiographic detection of accidentally implanted wooden foreign bodies is difficult. In many cases, wooden foreign bodies are initially misdiagnosed or missed, and retained foreign bodies are identified later (6)(7)(8)(9). Plain x-ray studies usually cannot detect radiolucent wooden foreign bodies.…”

Unusual intrathoracic foreign body: tree branch

“…The differentiation from gas collections can be made on the basis of the shape of the object and the use of intermediate windows in the computed tomography scan. However, wooden foreign bodies, discovered years after their entry, can undergo mineral deposition and become hyperdense (7) . Such foreign bodies must be detected and removed as soon as possible because, due to their porosity and organic nature, they constitute an excellent culture medium for microorganisms, which can result in abscesses and fistulas (1,5) .…”