Nape piercing

Case contributed by Ashesh Ishwarlal Ranchod
Diagnosis certain

Presentation

Incidental finding during work-up for dysphagia and gastro-esophageal reflux disease.

Patient Data

Age: 30 years
Gender: Female
x-ray

An example of a nape piercing with a subcutaneous bar and two surface balls.

The lung fields are clear. There is a normal cardiothoracic ratio. There are no indirect features to suggest a hiatal hernia.

Case Discussion

An example of a nape surface piercing. The initial frontal view may falsely suggest a possible oral cavity, lip, or tongue piercing. The lateral view confirms otherwise and demonstrates a nape piercing with a subcutaneous metal bar and two visible surface balls.

Surface piercings usually have an entrance and exit hole while standard piercings usually have a solitary hole.

The patient was unable to remove the piercing for the X-rays. This was physically attempted in our department after the piercing was identified.

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