Computed tomographic localization of wooden foreign bodies in children's extremities

Computed tomographic (CT) scanning accurately can identify and localize deeply embedded wooden foreign bodies in an extremity. Previously, wooden foreign bodies were often difficult to find for surgical removal. Two cases illustrating the accurate identification and localization of troublesome infected wooden foreign bodies in the tissues of extremities of children are presented. The accurate description by CT facilitated a precisely planned removal of these foreign bodies without adjacent tissue damage. This new diagnostic tool is valuable for finding obscure low-density foreign bodies in an extremity.