Broken Needle Embedded in the Body during Vascular Puncture

Abstract

The use of needles is essential in most medical procedures and surgery; however, needle breakage is not known to happen very frequently. Even if it does, it is most likely to occur during dental procedures, sutures, aspiration, biopsy, anesthesia, and drug abuse. To our knowledge, this is the first report about needle detachment from the syringe during a vascular puncture for blood collection. In this case, an 87-year-old obese woman with generalized edema had repeated vascular punctures to the femoral artery for arterial blood gas analysis (ABGA). After blood collection at this instance, when the syringe was pulled out, the needle was detached from it. Radiography revealed that the broken needle was lodged in the groin. A surgical incision with the fluoroscopic radiography located the embedded needle in the soft tissue and allowed the retrieval of its fragments from the groin soft tissue. Obesity and repeated punctures may increase the risk of needle breakage and prior inspection of needles for such procedures may be necessary.