Temporary Removal of Navel Piercing Jewelry for Surgery and Imaging Studies Oliver J. Muensterer, MD ABSTRACT. Background. Navel piercings are becom- mbilical piercing jewelry is becoming increas- ing increasingly popular among adolescents. Body pierc- ingly popular among adolescent patients, as ing jewelry must be removed before surgery, because a unique form of self-expression. Recent sur- electrical burns can occur with electrocauterization. Also, U Ͼ veys indicate that 50% of undergraduate students piercing jewelry creates artifacts during magnetic reso- have some form of body piercing,1 with the navel nance imaging. Even temporary piercing jewelry removal being one of the most popular sites. may lead to closure of the subcutaneous tract; therefore, temporary replacement with a nonmetallic spacer is in- Body piercing jewelry must be removed before dicated. surgery, because electrical burns can occur when the Objective. This report describes a simple, safe, effec- jewelry is exposed to an electrical current during tive method for perioperative temporary replacement of electrocauterization.2 Also, piercing jewelry creates navel piercing jewelry with a universally available, non- artifacts during magnetic resonance imaging3 and metallic, sterile, intravenous catheter. may pose a risk to the patient during the study.4 Methods. The umbilical piercing jewelry of 5 adoles- Despite the increased prevalence of piercings, health cent female patients was removed before surgical or ra- care professionals remain surprisingly ignorant re- diologic interventions by using the following technique: garding their periprocedural management. In 1 sur- 1) disinfecting the piercing and umbilical area with 70% vey, only 6 of 28 emergency department physicians isopropyl alcohol, 2) opening the piercing jewelry by removing the bead from the bar, 3) placing the tip of a were familiar with the opening mechanisms for 5 tight-fitting intravenous catheter (14 or 16 gauge, without piercing jewelry. the needle) over the threaded tip of the bar, 4) advancing Depending on skin thickness and umbilical depth, the intravenous catheter caudally, pushing the piercing navel piercings may require up to 12 months to heal.2 out of the skin tract, and 5) removing the jewelry and During this time, removal of the jewelry, even for leaving the intravenous catheter in the subcutaneous short periods of time, may lead to closure of the skin tract as a spacer. After the intervention, the piercing piercing tract. According to the Association of Pro- jewelry was reinserted by following the described steps fessional Piercers, even well-healed piercings can in reverse order. The patients were evaluated after 1 shrink or close in minutes, after having been there for week, for assessment of any adverse effects, including years.6 In such cases, reintroduction of the piercing infection. 7 Results. With this method, piercing jewelry removal jewelry can be a difficult, time-consuming task. and reinsertion required <2 minutes for all patients. No Among our adolescent patients, closure of the sub- procedural complications were noted. All jewelry was cutaneous tract and increased bleeding or infection reinserted successfully after the procedure. The intrave- after forced reinsertion are frequently stated con- nous catheter left in situ did not interfere with surgery, cerns. This report thus describes a safe efficient tech- and it did not produce any artifacts or adverse effects nique for temporary perioperative replacement of during magnetic resonance imaging. Follow-up evalua- body piercing jewelry with a universally available, tions at 1 week demonstrated no signs of irritation, in- nonmetallic, sterile, inexpensive, intravenous cathe- fection, or other side effects of the procedure for any of ter. the patients. Navel piercing jewelry usually has the shape of a Conclusions. Periprocedural removal of navel pierc- ing jewelry with this new technique proved to be quick, bent metal barbell (Fig 1A). A curved bar connects a feasible, and safe. Piercings in other locations on the fixed ornament on 1 side and a removable bead on body may be replaced for surgery or imaging studies in the other. Most beads are screwed onto the bar (bar- the same way, with minor modifications. Pediatrics 2004; bell type). Captive bead ring types are closed by 114:e384–e386. URL: http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/ inserting a ball with 2 small dimples into an open content/full/114/3/e384; piercing, jewelry, removal. ring, which holds the bead through tension (Fig 1B). For removal, a surgical clamp can be introduced to pry open the ring, so that the ball falls out. Special- From the Department of Pediatric Surgery, Dr von Hauner Children’s 8 Hospital, University of Munich, Munich, Germany. ized body jewelry removal tools are available. Pierc- Accepted for publication Mar 22, 2004. ing jewelry should be made of surgical steel, tita- DOI: 10.1542/peds.2004-0130 nium, niobium, silver, or gold, to avoid allergic Address correspondence to Oliver J. Muensterer, MD, Department of Pedi- reactions against nickel. atric Surgery, Dr von Hauner Children’s Hospital, University of Munich, Lindwurmstrasse 4, 80337 Munich, Germany. E-mail: oliver.muensterer@ med.uni-muenchen.de METHODS PEDIATRICS (ISSN 0031 4005). Copyright © 2004 by the American Acad- Piercing jewelry was removed before interventions by using the emy of Pediatrics. following technique (Fig 2): 1) disinfecting the piercing and um- e384 PEDIATRICS Vol.Downloaded 114 No. 3 from September www.aappublications.org/news 2004 http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/114/3/ by guest on September 28, 2021 e384 Fig 1. (a) shows a close-up view of a common type of navel piercing jewelry. The ornament (§) is permanently fixed to a curved metal bar (#). The bead (*) is screwed onto the other end of the bar, holding the jewelry in place. (b) shows a diagram of captive ring bead jewelry, in which a ball with 2 dimples (†) is held in place through the tension of the ring (‡). Fig 2. Technique for replacement of piercing jewelry with a sterile intravenous catheter. The area is cleansed with 70% alcohol (a), the bead is screwed off (b), an intravenous catheter is fitted over the open end (c), the piercing jewelry is pushed out of the tract on the catheter (d), and the jewelry is removed and the catheter is secured in place by covering the area and catheter with a transparent, polyurethane, bio-occlusive dressing (e). bilical area with 70% isopropyl alcohol, 2) removing the bead by for any adverse effects, including infection, after 1 week. Specifi- turning it counterclockwise (all beads in this study had screw-type cally, patients were evaluated for fever, bleeding, local erythema, opening mechanisms), 3) placing the tip of a tight-fitting intrave- or purulent discharge from the umbilical piercing site. nous catheter (14 or 16 gauge, without the needle) over the threaded tip of the bar, 4) advancing the intravenous catheter caudally, pushing the piercing out of the skin tract, and 5) remov- RESULTS ing the jewelry, leaving the intravenous catheter in the subcuta- The time from the initial navel piercing to peripro- neous skin tract as a spacer. The catheter was secured and covered cedural replacement with the intravenous catheter with a sterile dressing for the operation or the imaging study. Alternatively, a monofilament suture could be passed through the ranged from 3 weeks to 11 months. With this catheter and tied into a loop with the catheter in place, to prevent method, piercing jewelry removal and reinsertion dislodgement. After the intervention, the piercing jewelry was required Ͻ2 minutes for all patients. No procedural reinserted by following the illustrated steps in reverse order. complications were noted. All jewelry was reinserted The technique was performed for 5 adolescent female patients (age: 14–17 years). Indications for surgery were an inguinal hernia successfully after the procedure. The intravenous in 1 case and appendicitis in 2 cases. Two other patients under- catheter left in situ did not interfere with surgery and went magnetic resonance imaging. The patients were evaluated did not produce any artifacts or adverse effects dur- Downloaded from www.aappublications.org/newshttp://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/114/3/ by guest on September 28, 2021 e384 e385 ing magnetic resonance imaging. Follow-up evalua- Despite individual variation, most piercing studios tions at 1 week demonstrated no signs of irritation, in our vicinity recommend at least 4 to 8 weeks infection, or other side effects of the procedure for before replacement of the starter jewelry. The short- any of the patients. est period from initial piercing to replacement with Furthermore, in our institution, tongue piercing the intravenous catheter method in this series was 3 jewelry was removed for anesthesia by exchanging weeks. With the described technique, however, un- the jewelry with an intravenous catheter in the de- complicated substitution should be feasible at any scribed manner. A monofilament suture (-0-polypro- time. pylene) was threaded through the catheter, the cath- To date, the procedure has not been used for lapa- eter was removed, leaving the suture in place, and roscopic surgery, during which 1 of the trocars is the suture was tied in a loop. For reinsertion of the generally inserted at the umbilical fold. Both patients jewelry after surgery, the loop was cut and the suture with appendicitis in this series underwent conven- was used as a guidewire to thread a new intravenous tional appendectomies. For laparoscopic surgery, catheter into the piercing tract. The catheter then leaving a monofilament suture tied in a loop in the facilitated reinsertion of the jewelry with the pro- piercing tract might provide the necessary surgical posed technique. access while keeping the tract patent. Although literature on the subject is scarce, endo- DISCUSSION carditis associated with navel piercing has been re- Periprocedural removal of navel piercing jewelry ported for adolescents with congenital heart dis- with this new technique proved to be quick, feasible, ease.11 Standard antibiotic endocarditis prophylaxis and safe.