The case of the missing 'Prince Albert'.

摘要

BACKGROUND: Body piercing is increasing and so are its complications. We describe a case in which the female partner of an individual who had penile piercing was affected. CASE: A young female presented to the emergency department with the possibility of a lost/missing foreign body in the vagina. Her partner had had a "Prince Albert" type of penile piercing, which was found to be missing after sexual intercourse. Prince Albert penile piercing is a metallic bead, which is anchored to the urethral opening. On clinical examination, the bead was not found in the vagina but was seen on pelvic X-ray. A thorough sexual history resolved the mystery of the missing Prince Albert. CONCLUSION: Our case suggests that the gynecologist should be aware of the practice of genital piercing and stresses the importance of proper sexual history taking.