We report a case (73-year-old, male) of a foreign body, a bullet received during action in the war, that had been retained as long as 48 years in the ethmoidal sinus.
The majority of foreign bodies in the paranasal sinuses are removed in a relatively short time after their occurrence. We reviewed documented cases of long-standing foreign bodies in the paranasal sinuses, with the following interesting results:
(1) Patients were dominantly male.
(2) Frequent cases were war, work-related accidents, traffic accidents, falls and fights.
(3) Many foreign bodies were the relics of combat wounds. Metallic foreign bodies were common, a large proportion of which were medical instruments, particularly those in dentistry.
(4) Nearly all the foreign bodies were lodged in the maxillary or ethmoidal sinus.
Foreign bodies are usually discovered by careful history taking and observation of the chronic sinusitis-like symptoms, but sometimes found accidentally during an X-ray examination. We emphasize that it is imperative to remove the foreign bodies as early as possible to prevent infections and lead poisoning, to allay the patient's anxiety and to avoid difficulties in operation.
