HOW A NEEDLE WILL TRAVEL IN THE HUMAN BODY.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 668, 13 May 1914, Page 7

HOW A NEEDLE WILL TRAVEL IN THE HUMAN BODY.

It an ordinary needle, or a porlion of it, runs into the hand or any other part of the body, it displays a strange propensity to start off on what may prove a long course of travel. Some years ago a lady called upon a surgeon, stating that a part of a needle had broken in the first ;o"nt of her left thumb. The surgcoa's attempts to extract the needle being ineffectual, he advised her to let it alone. About a year afterwards ho was again visited by the lady, who stated that a few days previously she had felt a pricking sensation in the right forefinger, and that en breaking the skiin she had without difficulty extracted the portion ol the lost needle. The needle had in ibis case travelled from the left thumb along the arm, and down tin latter to the finger whence it was extracted. Another well-authenticated case is the following. A man caving been stabbed in the back of Ihe right shoulder with a hatpin, ths blow inflicted caused ihe pin to break. Only the head and upper part of the pin could subsequently be iound, but as the man suffered no inconvenience from the injury, he thought no more about it. Some time afterwards hi was troubled with pain in the right shoulder, and this being supposed to bs caused by rheumatism he was treated accordingly. The treatment, brought no relief, but in several weeks the pain passed away apparently without any .cause. Some time after this he observed a lcn~, hard substance under th 3 skin on the lower part of the breastbone, tnd he bethought himself of the pin that had been run into his shoulder some twelve months previously, A surgcen being called in, he soon extracted the foreign body, and found it to be a portion of the pin 2|[in. in lrn;th.

But needles do not always travel when they enter the tody. Sometimes they remain in a fixed position—namely, at that spot where they originally entered. A young girl bcini admitted to a country infirmary stated that four years previously, while kneeling on a hearthrug, a needle had run into her right knee. A careful examination .was made, but the surgeon failed to detect any indication of the presence of a foreign body. The girl, however, was positive in her assertion that she could feel the point of the needle, f.nd that upon pressure it caused her pain in a particular spot.

This statement induced the surgeon to make an incision over the tissues of the right knee, but with no result therefrom. Nothing could be felt oi seen. A deeper incision (under an anaesthetic) was made, but still without result. The tissues were now divided still father, and, at last, lying almost upon the capsule of the joint, the needle was discovered, and. with some difficulty, extracted. The wound healed quickly, and in the course of a few days the girl was quite well. Nowadays, however, such operations are rarely needed, for by means of the X-ray phptography the position ol the travelling needles or any othsi foreign substance in the human body can be immediately ascertained, auei the offender extracted.—" : Spare Moments."