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Case Reports
. 2023 Nov 2;15(11):e48179.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.48179. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Migration of a Contraceptive Subdermal Device Into the Lung

Joud Enabi  1 , Rami Al-Ayyubi  1 , Pablo Amador  1 , Alejandro Herrera  1 , Devalla Deepika  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Migration of a Contraceptive Subdermal Device Into the Lung

Joud Enabi et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Subdermal contraceptive implants are usually inserted subdermally and carry the possibility to migrate within a small range, usually less than 2 cm from the insertion sites; significant migration over 2 cm is rare. This paper discusses the case of a 38-year-old female patient with a migrated subdermal Implanon contraceptive implant in the left pulmonary artery. On chest computed tomography, roughly a 4 cm long linear hyperdensity foreign body in the left lower lobe was found and was favored to be a migrated Implanon in a subsegmental pulmonary artery branch. An interventional radiologist performed an endovascular removal of the left pulmonary artery Implanon using a right common femoral vein access. Very few cases have been reported of complications with inserting and removing the subdermal contraceptive implants as it is considered a reasonably safe procedure in the hands of physicians familiar with the technique. Therefore, if a properly trained individual had carried out the correct procedure of inserting a subdermal implant, the migration of an implant over 2 cm should not occur.

Keywords: cardiology; contraceptive implant; drug implant; foreign-body migration; lung.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Chest X-ray showing implant in the left lung (arrow).
Figure 2
Figure 2. CT chest showing migrated implant into the left pulmonary artery branch (arrows).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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