The late effect of grenade fragments.

Following the explosion of a grenade or shell, the victim may be peppered with literally hundreds of pieces of metal. Troublesome fragments which perforate a major viscus may be removed but others are often left behind, as it is felt (usually correctly) that these fragments will cause no harm. We describe a case in which a grenade fragment received 16 years previously pierced the large bowel. A psoas abscess developed which was located by ultrasound. Pus was aspirated under ultrasound control and the lesion was successfully treated by antibiotics.