• Afshin Mohammadi, Mohammad Ghasemi-Rad, and Maryam Khodabakhsh.
• Radiology Department, Urmia University of Medical Sciences, Urmia, Iran. mohamadi_afshin@yahoo.com
• BMC Med Imaging. 2011 Apr 10; 11: 9.

BackgroundSoft tissue foreign bodies are a common cause of orthopedic consultation in emergency departments. It is difficult to confirm their existence because conventional radiology only detects radio-opaque foreign bodies. Sonography can be a useful diagnostic method. The aim of this study is to evaluate diagnostic accuracy of sonography in detection and localization of non-opaque foreign bodies.MethodsWe evaluated 47 patients with suspected foreign body retention in soft tissues by 10 MHz linear array transducer. A single radiologist performed all examinations with 6 years' experience in musculoskeletal Sonography. We detected and localized the presence of the foreign body in the soft tissue as guidance for facilitating the surgery.ResultsWe detected soft tissue foreign body in 45 cases as hyperechoic foci. Posterior acoustic shadowing was seen in 36 cases and halo sign was seen in 5 cases due to abscess or granulation tissue formation. Surgery was performed in 39 patients and 44 foreign bodies were removed.ConclusionSonography is a useful modality in detection and localization of radiolucent foreign bodies in soft tissue which can avoid misdiagnosis during primary emergency evaluation.

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