Presentation
Painful swelling at the Achilles tendon insertion. Two years post traumatic wound at the same location.
Patient Data
There is a small opacity with a central radiopaque focus posterior to the Achilles tendon. This likely represents a retained foreign body. No bone lesion is seen.
There is an oval, heterogeneous and hypoechoic lesion measuring 15 x 7 mm in the subcutaneous tissue posterior to the Achilles tendon. Within this lesion are small, central echogenic foci with posterior acoustic shadowing.
This represents an inflammatory granuloma surrounding foreign bodies.
Case Discussion
Radiographic and ultrasound features of a foreign body granuloma. Foreign body granuloma is an inflammatory tissue reaction around retained foreign bodies after penetrating trauma. Sometimes their detection can be extremely difficult especially when the symptoms are non-specific or there is no clear history of trauma.