Internal jugular vein thrombosis by sewing needle ingestion

The internal jugular vein thrombosis is usually due to intravenous drug abuse, prolonged central venous catheterization or deep head-neck infections or trauma. Related malignancies, or inflammatory etiologies are described. Our case is interesting by the ingestion of a sewing needle that passes from the pharynx to the internal jugular vein via migration, leading to life-threatening complications: deep neck space infection and internal jugular vein thrombosis.

We report a case of a 40 years old patient, for acute cervical cellulitis in a context of odynophagia and fever, a CT scan revealed a jugular vein thrombosis, penetrated by a metal density foreign body. The diagnosis of ingested foreign body complicated by cervical cellulitis and thrombosis of the internal jugular vein was made. The patient underwent neck surgery with intravenous antibiotics. The postoperative course was uneventful, after one year of follow-up, no complications have been observed.

no consensus has been reached concerning the management of postoperative and post traumatic vein thrombosis. Taking into account the risk of extension of the thrombus and the hemorrhagic risk each case should involve discussions among a multidisciplinary team.

The internal jugular vein thrombosis is a rare complication of ingested foreign bodies which may lead to life threat. The early diagnosis and adequate treatment of its life-threatening complications may result in excellent prognosis.