A spinal foreign body

Abstract

2122 www.thelancet.com Vol 366 December 17/24/31, 2005 A 61-year-old man presented with thoracic back pain and cough. Despite receiving a blow to the back in a fight 3 weeks earlier, his general condition at admission was good. He had an axillary temperature of 37·4oC, and when examined closely, we saw a wound of about 2 cm over the dorsal thoracic midline. Standard laboratory test results were normal. Chest radiographs showed a foreign body projecting from the ascending aorta (figure, A). A CT scan showed a knife blade 12 cm long at the sixth thoracic vertebra (figure, B). The blade extended from the subcutaneous adipose tissue to the middle of the spinal canal and the vertebral body adjacent to the aorta. A neurological examination did not show any sensory or motor problems. The blade was removed surgically under general anaesthetic. As a complication of the procedure, the patient became paraplegic. A spinal foreign body