Shocking X-rays: Troubled teens' embedded objects

Pediatrics (Volume 127, Number 6, June 2011)

Adolescence can be a difficult time, especially for teens beset by severe depression and other psychological demons. Some resort to "self-embedding behavior" with the goal of using physical pain to blunt emotional pain. So says Dr. William E. Shiels, of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

This X-ray shows a shard of glass embedded in the neck of a 17-year-old. Keep clicking to see more shocking images...

This X-ray shows the wrist of a teen-aged girl who embedded three staples.

self-embedding, self-abuse, teen, injury, x-ray, radiology, scan — Nationwide Children's Hospital

Here's a frontal X-ray showing the neck of a 17-year-old girl who had stuck a bobby pin fragment deep into the left side of her neck.

Some teens embed pencil lead (graphite). This sonogram was taken during surgery to remove graphite from the arm of a 15-year-old girl.

This X-ray revealed staples, unfolded paperclips, and graphite pencil fragments embedded under the skin and in the muscle of a teenage girl.

This X-ray shows the wrist of a 17-year-old girl who had embedded six staples into her arm.

X-ray of metal pieces embedded in the wrist of a teenage girl.

Here's the arm of a 17-year-old with nine embedded objects, including a paperclip, graphite fragments, and staples.

All these items - paperclips, staples, and fragments of graphite and plastic were removed from the same patient.

These forceps allow doctors to remove embedded objects without big incisions. The incisions required to insert these tools is generally about one-quarter of an inch.