Pulmonary needle embolism from intravenous drug abuse

Although the embolization of catheters and other foreign bodies in blood vessels is a well-known happening, needle embolization has rarely been reported. We describe here an instance in which a hypodermic needle broke in a man's skin during cocaine injection. The needle fragment was observed to migrate within a short time to the periphery of the left lung. The patient did not develop complications. The limited literature available indicates that such peripheral embolization usually follows a benign course.