title: A 'pen' in the neck: an unusual foreign body and an unusual path of entry.
abstract: Penetrating injuries to head and neck region with varying objects have been reported in the literature. 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. Following injury the normal anatomy could be altered because of edema or tissue destruction, which makes the diagnosis or retrieval more difficult. 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cleft and Craniofacial Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Cochin, Kerala, India.
authors.forename: Latha P
authors.initials: LP
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.forename: Sherry
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Peter
authors.forename: K P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Sreekumar
authors.forename: Subramaniya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Iyer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005547:Foreign Bodies; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009333:Neck