## Question
Many of us have a fear of getting an asymptomatic, insideous perforation in
the digestive tract -- one that leads to vague complaints or even
degenerative conditions but doesn't announce itself in any acute way.  Can
this ever happen?  And if it does, how can a patient detect it?  There are
stories of people swallowing needles and they don't even know it!
One answer I've heard put forward is that foreign objects embedded in
tissue become encased in some kind of hard flesh and somehow eliminated
from the body.  Could this really happen?  Is there something I could read
about it?  What about the people who have found foreign objects still
sitting around in their tissues after aeons?
I'm one of those internet worry-worts.  I go to online forums where people
really want to know the worst case scenario for things like this.  This
particular issue has worried me for years.  Thanks for discussing it with
me.
[NAME]

## Expert Summary
How to detect asymptomatic swallowed foreign objects in the body and what are the prognosis and treatments for them?