Glass Shards in the GI Tract

Patient 1: This patient presents with radiopaque densities in the descending colon on abdominal plain film and axial CT scan. This patient swallowed shattered glass.
Patient 2: This patient presents with radiopaque densities in the ascending, transverse, and descending colon on abdominal plain film. This patient swallowed fragments of a glass lightbulb.

Discussion
Psych patients and/or prison inmates may purposefully swallow foreign bodies. Not all glass is radiopaque. It is the lead in older glass that makes it radiopaque. If there is a high clinical suspicion for swallowed glass, and no glass is visible on abdominal plain film, a gastrograffin GI study may be helpful. Barium should not be used due to the possibility of the glass causing GI tract perforation.


http://eradiology.bidmc.harvard.edu/Classics/item.aspx?section=Emergency+Radiology&labelpk=33f0adab-853f-4010-a0e2-0756b3f1eac5&pk=295d40f1-d9bb-49a7-be76-90846138b0db