Description
A 31-year old gentleman, a drug abuser, used to self-inject drugs in his neck veins. Two days prior to presentation he inserted a needle in the right side but during injection the needle broke. He attempted to extract the needle himself. There was no history of dysphagia, dyspnoea, change of voice, neck pain or neck swelling. On examination there was a small healing scar in the right side of the neck at the level of the thyroid cartalidge (from the previous trail of removal). There was no neck swelling or tenderness. The pharynx and larynx were clinically normal. The patient displayed multiple tattooing markings. A plain X-ray in both antero-posterior and lateral views revealed the prescence of a fine needle at the level of the thyroid membrane, oriented vertically and not related to the air column.
