MRI Findings of Intramuscular Foreign Body Injection: A Case Report

ABSTRACT

There are various types of foreign body reactions, such as inflammation, edema, fluid collection, hematoma, infection, abscess and granulomas. There are various imaging findings according to types of foreign bodies and depending on the lapse of time. Therefore, correct diagnosis of a foreign body reaction is difficult and easily confused with soft tissue neoplasm. The MRI is ideal for the detection of foreign bodies regardless of radiolucency or acoustic impedance. It is especially very useful in the evaluation of the surrounding tissue reaction. The authors report a case of a 26-year-old female patient with both forearm swelling due to self-injection of a mixture of powdered tablets and saline. The lesion shows numerous internal T1 and T2 dark signal intensity micro-spots with surrounding fluid collection, which are diagnosed as foreign bodies with surrounding inflammatory changes during an operation.