Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2021 Feb 17:22:e928534.
doi: 10.12659/AJCR.928534.

An Unusual Maxillary Sinus Foreign Body: A Case Report

Maeidah A Alrasheed  1 , Mohammed S Alhaddad  2 , Nora A Almuhainy  3 , Abrar A Almohammedali  3
Affiliations
Case Reports

An Unusual Maxillary Sinus Foreign Body: A Case Report

Maeidah A Alrasheed et al. Am J Case Rep. .

Abstract

BACKGROUND Paranasal sinus foreign bodies are rarely encountered in otolaryngology practice. CASE REPORT We present the case of a 32-year-old man who presented to our Emergency Department with his left eye bleeding after a nail gun injury. The initial physical examination revealed the presence of a left eye ruptured globe, which led to left eye blindness. An urgent plain X-ray scan was done, in which the presence of a metallic object impacted in the left maxillary sinus was demonstrated. The patient was managed surgically by an external approach using the Caldwell-Luc procedure, with no intra- or postoperative complications. CONCLUSIONS Paranasal sinus foreign bodies, if improperly treated, can cause serious morbidity. Surgical removal, either endoscopically or through an external approach, is required.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Lateral plain X-ray of the head shows abnormal curved radio-opaque shadow (metallic object).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
CT scan of the sinuses, coronal view, shows a large dense foreign body in the left maxillary sinus.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Maxillary antrum opened during Caldwell-Luc procedure shows the foreign body during removal.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Foreign body after removal from the maxillary sinus (about 4 cm in length).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Lima M, Moreira C, da Silva V, de Freitas M. 34 Self-inflicted foreign bodies in the maxillary sinus. Braz J Otorhinolaryngol. 2008;74(6):948. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Agarwal S, Kumar S. Foreign bodies in maxillary sinus: Causes and management. Astrocyte. 2014;1(2):89–92.
    1. Kim S, Cho K. A case of a tubular foreign body in the paranasal sinus after penetrating orbital injury. J Med Cases. 2014 Jan;5(1):45–48.
    1. Sohn D, Jung H, Kim K, et al. Removal of displaced foreign body from the maxillary sinus using replaceable bony windows and saline irrigation, followed by suctioning of the foreign body. Implant Dent. 2011;20(2):112–17. - PubMed
    1. Agbara R, Fomete B, Omeje K, Onyebuchi P. Is the Caldwell-Luc operation and its modifications still useful in the era of endoscopic sinus surgery? Findings from a resource-limited setting. J Stoma. 2019;72(2):63–69.

Publication types