The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1878-07-10
PINS AND NEEDLES.
How They Go Into the Body and Their
Eecenfricifies I'm Coming Ont.

The vagaries of needles which have been
introduced In the body, and have escaped
immediate removal, have in all ages attract
ed the attention CT collectors of the mar
velous in medicine. Hildanus related an
instance Of a woman who swallowed several
pins and passed them SIX years afterward (;
but a more remarkable instance of prolonged
detention was lately recorded by Dr.'Steven-
son, of Detroit-that of lady aged rs, who
last year passed by the urethra, after ome
months symptoms of vesical irritation, a
pin which she had swallowed while picking
her teeth with it in the year 1852 years
previously. Occasional pain in the throat
was The only immediate symptom, but in
1S45 she was seized with severe gastric pain
which passed away, and she had no further
symptoms until h@maturia in 1876.
This curious toleration of such foreign
bodies exhibited by the tissues is often
observed in lunatic asylums. M. Slivy re-
corded some years ago the case OF woman
who had penchant for pins and needles so
strong that she made them, in effect, part of
her daily diet, and, after her death, 400 or
1,5O0 were removed from various parts of the
body. Another case almost as striking, has
been reported by DR.. Gillette-that of girl
in whom, from time to time, needles were
found beneath the skin, which they perfor-
ated, and were removed by the fingers or
forceps. Concerning the way in which they
had got into her system no information could
be extracted from her. She was carefully
watched, and in the course of eighteen
months no less than 800 needles were ex-
tracted, all being of the same size. Most were
black and oxidiZed, but some had retained
their polish. The majority were unbroken.
They passed out of various parts of the body
above the diaphragm at regular intervals,
but in sort of series, and always in the
same direction. Most escaped in the region
of fln0 loft min nd fovv bR
arm, axil!a, thigh, temple and cheek. Some
times several passed out of the same opening
The largest number which escaped IN single
day was sixty-one. curious phenomenon
proceeded the escape of each needle. For
some hours the pain was severe, and there
was considerable fever. She then felt a
sharp pain like lightning in the tissues and
on looking at the place at which this pain
had been felt, the head of the needle
was generally found projecting. The needles
invariably came out head foremost. No
bleeding was occasioned, and not the least
trace of inflammation followed. The doc
tor in attendance extracted 3l8. They were
sometimes held firmly, and seemed to be
contained IN a kind of indurated canal. 1t
was conjectured that they had been swal-
lowed with suicidal intentions. But, on
the other hand, the way in which.the nee
dies escaped in series, and their direction
with the head outward, suggested that they
had been introduced through the skin
That little weight is to be attached
to the place at which the needles
escape as proof OF their mode of intro
duction is evidently from case
recorded by Villsrs of a girl who swallowed
large number Of pins and needles, and two
years afterward, during period OF nine
months, 200 passed out of the hand, arm,
axilla, side of thorax, abdomen, and thigh,
all on the left side. The pins, curiously
enough, escaped more readily and with less
case was reported by DIR. Otto, of Copenhagen,
and mentioned at the time in the Lancet, in
which 395 needles passed through the skin
of an hysterical girl, who had probably swal-
lowed them during an hysterical paroxysm;
but these all emerged in the regions below
the level of the diaphragm, and were col
lected in groups, which gave rise to infiam-
matory swellings OF some size. One OF these
contained 100 needles Quite recently DIR.
Bigger described before the society of sur
gerry OF Dublin case in which more than
800 needles were removed from the body OF
a woman who died in consequence of their
presence. 1t is very remarkable in how few
OF the cases the needles were the cause Of
death, and hoSv slight interference with
function their presence and movement
cause. From time to time their detection
by magnetic needle is proposed as novel
ty; but as DIR. Gillette reminds us, this
method was employed by Since nearly forty
years ago, and has often been adopted since.