title: The ethics of the missing straw.
abstract: This case report details the emergency department course of a 34 year-old female who presented with abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding after reportedly falling one week earlier. She was subsequently found to have a drinking straw within her uterus next to an eight week-old live intrauterine pregnancy on ultrasound. This case report and discussion reviews the literature on retained foreign bodies in pregnancy while addressing the added complications of an evasive patient and a difficult consultant with significant intra-specialty disagreement.
authors.affiliation: Maricopa Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Phoenix, Arizona.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: Maricopa Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Phoenix, Arizona.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Katz
authors.affiliation: Maricopa Medical Center, Department of Emergency Medicine, Phoenix, Arizona.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klokow
mesh_terms: D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology; D000328:Adult; D003297:Cooking and Eating Utensils; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014599:Uterus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*