title: Retained fetal bones masquerading as an intrauterine device with missing threads.
abstract: We present the case of a 26-year-old woman with retained fetal bones, discovered eight years after an induced mid-trimester abortion in a West African country. The patient had requested her general practitioner to change the intrauterine device (IUD) which she assumed had been inserted immediately post-abortion. No threads were seen on vaginal examination. A pelvic ultrasound examination showed features that were misinterpreted for an IUD in the cervical canal. At evacuation of the uterine cavity retained fetal bone fragments were recovered.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Reproductive Medicine, St James University Hospital, Leeds, UK.
authors.forename: Tonye T
authors.initials: TT
authors.lastname: Wokoma
authors.forename: Vivian L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Adum
authors.forename: Babatunde A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Gbolade
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000196:embryology*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus; D006801:Humans; D015907:Hysteroscopy; D007434:Intrauterine Devices; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014599:Uterus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*