A rare case has been reported in Rome, where surgeons at the Bambino Gesù children’s hospital removed a metal part of a bicycle brake lever from the body of a 13-year-old boy, where it had remained for three years. The complicated procedure was carried out without damaging the nerve and enabled the boy to make a full recovery.
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According to Italian media, it all began with a bicycle accident when the child was younger. Although the metal fragment had remained in his body, he showed no obvious signs of discomfort. For three years, he continued playing sports and carrying out his daily activities without any particular limitations.
The situation changed only after he began experiencing pain in his right leg, which was later accompanied by troubling sensations in both lower limbs. These symptoms led doctors to investigate their cause.
Initial neurological examinations found no problems. However, an X-ray of the spine revealed a curved metal object measuring approximately 5.5 centimetres, lodged in the lumbar region of his back.
With the help of further examinations, including a computed tomography (CT) scan, doctors were able to determine the path taken by the metal fragment. It had entered through a small wound on the left side of the body and, over time, had ended up near the middle section of the spinal column.
The main risk was related to the object’s position. The end of the lever was close to the space between the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae, in an area where a nerve root connected to the functioning of the lower limbs emerges.
Over the three years, fibrous tissue had formed around the metal fragment. This tissue had partially encased the object and isolated it from the surrounding structures, making the procedure more difficult. An imprecise movement during its removal could have damaged the nerve.
For this reason, the 13-year-old was referred to specialists at the Bambino Gesù children’s hospital in Palidoro, near Rome, where a plan for the operation was developed.
The procedure lasted approximately three hours. The surgeons made a small incision in the back and reached the area where the foreign body was located. The most difficult part was separating the nerve root from the metal lever and the fibrous tissue that had formed around it.
To protect the nerve, the team used neurolysis, a procedure that frees a nerve from the surrounding structures while preserving its function. After carefully manoeuvring, the doctors managed to remove the brake lever intact without causing nerve damage.
The case is considered unusual, particularly because the foreign body had remained in the boy’s body for such a long period without causing noticeable problems.
Although the object was relatively large and located near important nerve structures, the boy had continued living normally for three years. The formation of fibrous tissue and the movement of the metal fragment over time also make this an especially rare case.
After the operation, the 13-year-old was in good condition. He got out of bed the morning after the procedure and was discharged from hospital a few days later. Follow-up examinations showed a positive recovery, with no reported neurological or physical complications.
The operation made it possible to remove the foreign body and prevented the consequences that damage to the nerve root could have caused to the functioning of the leg.
