Magnet hanging on the skin - An easy method to detect occult metallic cutaneous foreign body

Retrieval of a Broken Sewing Needle from the Sacrum Aided by a Permanent Magnet: A Case Report and Literature Review

Penetrating sacral injuries are very rare, but foreign bodies that penetrate the sacrum often cause pain, cerebrospinal fluid leakage, and neurological symptoms. Careful preoperative medical and imaging examinations, determining the position of the foreign body, and surgical exploration are essential in the management of such cases. We present the case of a woman who visited our emergency department with a broken sewing needle in her sacrum. The incident occurred when the patient accidentally sat on the needle while sewing by hand. Pain while sitting was the main clinical finding after the accident. The patient was treated successfully by surgical exploration aided by a permanent magnet. At follow-up a few months later, she was symptom-free. In clinical practice physicians often encounter patients with metallic foreign bodies. Permanent magnets play an important role in the removal of metallic foreign bodies, and emergency department physicians should master the methods and techniques.

[What's new in clinical dermatology?]

In addition to continuous medical education, medical journals offer to dermatologists a huge variety of news that differ by their content, validity, originality and clinical relevance. I collected here various articles relative to clinical dermatology that have been published between September, 2016 and September, 2017. These papers have been chosen in the aim of reflecting such diversity. I just excluded, as far as possible, articles dealing with other issues that the reader will find further in this booklet (such as research, pediatric, instrumental, oncologic or therapeutic dermatology, or dermatology and internal medicine). Space restriction required to skip some commentaries while keeping the references to the selected papers, which the reader will be able to read carefully in its original form.