A Complication Using a Crawford Hook

Abstract

To the Editor. —We recently treated a 65-year-old woman by performing full-thickness block excision of a basal cell carcinoma of the left medial lower eyelid and reconstruction with a semicircular cheek flap. As a part of the procedure, the left lacrimal drainage system was intubated with 0.64-cm silicone tubing attached to Crawford probes. A relatively new Crawford hook was used to retrieve the tip of the Crawford probes from the nose, which had been previously packed with 4% cocaine hydrochloride. On retrieval of one of the probes, a portion of the Crawford hook fractured from the end of the instrument (Figure). The broken piece was not recovered from the nose or oropharynx, and the patient experienced no ill effects. A roentgenographic examination was not performed. This case exemplifies a complication from the use of a Crawford hook, even though no ill effects occurred. We assume the patient swallowed the metal