Embedded stainless steel ring intrauterine device.

The stainless steel ring intrauterine device (IUD) (Figure 1A) is widely used in China. Very often this type of IUD can be removed in the outpatient clinic by using an IUD removal hook. A 32-year-old Chinese woman was referred for removal of an IUD that had been inserted 7 years previously in China. With the use of an IUD removal hook, only part of the device, which appeared to be a stainless steel ring, could be pulled out of the uterine cavity. It was then found to be adherent to the uterine wall, and with further traction the device was broken. Transvaginal pelvic sonography showed that an IUD fragment was embedded in the patient’s right lateral uterine wall (Figure 2). During hysteroscopy the end of the IUD fragment was barely seen covered by a thin layer of endometrium. By resecting the superficial myometrium more embedded IUD fragment was Letters to the editor