Citation

Rao LP, Peter S, Sreekumar KP, Iyer S. Indian J. Dent. Res. 2014; 25(1): 111-114.

Affiliation

Department of Cleft and Craniofacial Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Cochin, Kerala, India.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Indian Society for Dental Research)

DOI

10.4103/0970-9290.131159

PMID

24748312

Abstract

Penetrating injuries to head and neck region with varying objects have been reported in the literature. [1],[2],[3],[4],[5],[6],[7],[8],[9],[10] Majority of these injuries occur in interpersonal violence or bomb blasts or road traffic accidents. Despite the improvement in imaging technologies and surgical methods, penetrating injuries to head and neck with impacted foreign bodies are very challenging due to the proximity to vital structures and/or difficulties in accessing them for the removal. [1] Following injury the normal anatomy could be altered because of edema or tissue destruction, which makes the diagnosis or retrieval more difficult. [3] Parapharyngeal or prevertebral space is an unusual place for lodgment of foreign bodies and in these cases the usual point of entry is the oral cavity, cheek or neck. Here, we report a case of a ball point pen extending to the prevertebral region at the level of C1-C2 vertebrae from point of entry at the suprazygomatic region in the temporal fossa.

Language: en