2002 Volume 13 Issue 3 Pages 223-227
We report four patients with intravenous foreign bodies. There are one man and three women at the age of 38 to 90. The foreign bodies were fragments of central venous catheters which had been accidentally pulled out by the patients in two cases, a guidewire which was used in placement of a double-lumen catheter, and a fragment of introducer sheath broken during intracardiac electrophysiology study. They were located in the right jugular vein to the femoral region (1 case), the superior vena cava to right atrium(2 cases), and the right external iliac vein (1 case), and were removed by open surgery (2 cases), endovascular procedure (1 case), and combination of the both methods (1 case). There was no complication including pulmonary embolism during removal procedure, while duration between occurrence and removal ranged from one hour and a half to four months.
Most of intravenous foreign bodies have an iatrogenic etiology, so that they should be removed by secure, unfailing and case-by-case means.
