An unusual implanted foreign body in the oral tissue.

Abstract

Background: Foreign bodies in the mouth can cause injuries, especially at playtime among children. Foreign body injuries in the mouth are relatively uncommon making most clinicians not to be vast in the management. Diagnosis and management of foreign body injury (FBI) in the mouth could be very challenging. Missed diagnosis or mismanagement of FBI can lead to serious sequelae or fatal outcome. Although numerous types of foreign bodies and injuries have been reported, traumatic implantation of pencil erasers in the oral tissue is rarely noted Material and method: We report a case of traumatic implantation of the broken eraser end of a lead pencil in the buccal soft tissue of a 7-year-old Nigerian girl to illustrate some of the challenges in the management of oral/oropharyngeal foreign body injuries. Result: The diagnosis was missed at the initial presentation but was detected at a subsequent visit. The embedded eraser end of the lead pencil was removed using blunt dissection under local anaesthesia. Conclusion: In the management of FBIs, prompt and adequate assessment supplemented with appropriate investigation for diagnosis followed by appropriate treatment is essential to ensure good outcomes and prevent complications.

Keywords: Foreign body injuries, lead pencil erasers, traumatic implantation, oral/oropharyngeal

Nigerian Journal of Plastic Surgery Vol. 9, No 2, September 2013