Detection of glass foreign bodies by radiography.

During a 14-month period patients with suspected glass foreign bodies were radiographically examined before removal of the glass. In 25 out of 26 patients the glass foreign bodies were detected. In 9 patients the glass foreign bodies had been overlooked on previous visits to doctors or hospitals, where the examination had been limited to inspection and sometimes probing of the wound. Almost all glass foreign bodies can be detected radiographically. With high-resolution or mammographic techniques even minute splinters may show up.