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Case Report
Case of retained fetal femur acting as inert intrauterine device
1 Medical Student, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
2 MD, PhD, Physician, Seattle Reproductive Medicine, Spokane, WA, USA
3 MD, MS, Physician, Seattle Reproductive Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA
Address correspondence to:
Brooke Barton
4311 S Pinegrove Ln, Spokane, WA,
USA
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Article ID: 100147Z08BB2023
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Barton B, Every E, Houmard B, Davis L. Case of retained fetal femur acting as inert intrauterine device. J Case Rep Images Obstet Gynecol 2023;9(1):59–62.ABSTRACT
Introduction: Retention of fetal bones is a rare but documented complication after dilation and curettage (D&C). Previous case reports have described instances of retention of multiple fetal bones or bony fragments.
Case Report: We are presenting a case of a female with 1.5 years of secondary infertility due to retention of a single, intact, fetal femur bone following a therapeutic abortion 13 years prior. The bone was incidentally identified on follicle check ultrasound and was removed via hysteroscopy. The patient conceived one year later, which progressed to a full-term pregnancy.
Conclusion: Retained bony fragments or intact bones should be considered as a possible cause of secondary infertility following therapeutic abortions, emphasizing the importance of ultrasound imaging in preliminary secondary infertility workup.
Keywords: Abortion, Hysteroscopy, Infertility, Retained bone, Ultrasound
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Acknowledgments
All individuals who contributed to the work qualified for authorship.
Author ContributionsBrooke Barton - Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Emma Every - Analysis of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Brenda Houmard - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Lynn Davis - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Guaranter of SubmissionThe corresponding author is the guarantor of submission.
Source of SupportNone
Consent StatementWritten informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this article.
Data AvailabilityAll relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Conflict of InterestAuthors declare no conflict of interest.
Copyright© 2023 Brooke Barton et al. This article is distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original author(s) and original publisher are properly credited. Please see the copyright policy on the journal website for more information.
