A family in Seville, 332 miles south of Madrid, Spain, was surprised to discover their teenage boy had a blade-shaped shard of glass lodged behind his cheekbone for weeks a medical journal revealed on June 21.
Worried parents took their 14-year-old son to hospital after he kept complaining for about a month that it hurt when he chewed and that he was struggling to open his mouth fully.
The Journal of Emergency Medicine revealed that doctors from the emergency department (ED) at Virgen del Rocio University Hospital organized an x-ray scan. They discovered what appeared to be a light, rectangular shaped object lodged behind the left cheekbone in the child’s face.
“A panoramic radiograph that was initially obtained in the ED revealed a partially radiopaque and well-defined rectangular image of approximately 3.5 cm (1.4 inches) in length in the tuberosity of the left maxilla,” the hospital team including Rodolfo Belmonte-Caro, Alberto Garcia-Perla-Garcia, Rafael Martinez-de-Fuentes, and Pedro Infante-Cossio said in an article published in the journal.
Boy has a 3.5cm shard of GLASS removed from behind his cheekbone that had been there for a month without him knowing after he fainted and fell into a window https://t.co/iAAXEehcq2
— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) July 22, 2019
Doctors organized a second non-contrast computed tomography (CT) scan that clearly showed a foreign object measuring 1.4 inches long and 0.4 inches wide.
“[We found] a radiopaque foreign body, homogeneous and isodense with the bony cortex, compatible with a piece of glass … which had the shape of a knife blade,” the team said. “It was located in the left deep temporal space, medial to the zygomatic arch, penetrating through the temporal and lateral pterygoid muscles, and placed between the coronoid process and the zygomatic-maxillary suture.”
Teen had shard of glass stuck in his face for a month without knowing it https://t.co/9C1xgCsYKF pic.twitter.com/D7fuw8TdIH
— Johnny Brightman (@Johnnybrightman) July 22, 2019
When asked whether he could remember how the glass penetrated his body, the child remembered fainting and crashing into a glass window about four weeks earlier.
Teen Had a Shard of Glass Stuck in His Face for a Month Without Knowing It https://t.co/8f8nAQKKAw pic.twitter.com/EDIeHRsUWF
— Live Science (@LiveScience) July 19, 2019
The accident wounded his cheek, and he was previously treated at another hospital for the wound and left facial hematoma, or an accumulation of blood that is external to blood vessels. However, the first medical team had no idea there was still a shard of glass lodged behind his cheekbone.
“Initial examination showed a scar on the cheek and revealed a limitation to open his mouth (1 cm), with deviation of the jaw to the left side and pain when moving the jaw,” the second medical team said. “There was no facial paralysis or anesthesia. The palpation of his oral cavity was normal.”
Teen had shard of glass stuck in his face for a month without knowing it
The 14-year-old boy went to the emergency room after experiencing pain while chewing and trouble opening his jaw for about a month.https://t.co/y9jBMJQ4lD https://t.co/A0hsqAdSxy— Channel One (@Channel__One_) July 22, 2019
The ED doctors suggested the first medical team may not have searched for the glass because it is a “relatively rare event” according to Fox News. This is because the cheekbone normally prevents any foreign objects from entering area.
Whaaaaaaaaaat? ?https://t.co/7qXxdh3G0P
— Gray Wolf (@graywolf442) July 22, 2019
The boy regained the function of his jaw after a surgical procedure that involved removing the glass from inside his mouth with a pair of surgical forceps according to the Daily Mail. There were no further complications recorded after the teen returned for a check-up six months later according to Fox News.
“He has been followed for six months with no relevant clinical and radiographic findings,” the team said.
Click here to read the full article, Penetrating glass foreign body in the deep temporal space.
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