Case Report: Using Point-of-care Ultrasound as a Tool to Identify a Urethral Foreign Body

When patients present to the emergency department with retained urethral foreign objects, imaging is crucial for identifying and further describing the object(s). Imaging is also important to plan the management and to assess the potential complications of foreign object removal. Ultrasonography is sometimes used for this purpose and can often provide more information on the object and its location and characteristics than plain radiographs.

This case report discusses the identification and characterization of a retained urethral foreign object that was not seen on plain radiography.

While ultrasonography has its own limitations, in the cases of retained foreign objects, it can provide preferable imaging and can help guide the management of these patients.