Foreign bodies in urinary bladders

Abstract

We studied the patients admitted in our hospital with intravesical foreign bodies from February 2007 to January 2009 regarding their clinical presentation, nature of the foreign bodies, and methods used to remove them. The patients with intravesical foreign bodies were investigated and underwent cystoscopy for direct visualization of the foreign body and an attempt to remove it through the cystoscope. If cystoscopic removal failed, then suprapubic cystostomy was done to remove it. Nine patients (six males and three females, with a mean age of 24.5 years) with intra-vesical foreign bodies were admitted during the study period. In all the female patients and one male patient, foreign bodies were introduced inside the bladder by the patients themselves. In four cases, the foreign bodies were iatrogenic in nature, and in one case, it migrated accidentally through the urethra. In conclusion, intravesical foreign bodies are not very uncommon. Self-introduced and iatrogenic foreign bodies into the bladder are more common than accidental migration through the urethra. Cystoscopic removal is successful in most of the cases. If cystoscopic removal is not possible, then suprapubic cystostomy is required to accomplish this task.