Extracorporeal Foley catheter spring device mimicking an intervertebral foreign body in transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion surgery.

The complications caused by iatrogenic foreign bodies are well known, but cases are rarely published because of the medico-legal implications.1 Early identification of a foreign body can prevent hazardous and detrimental complications. Medical practitioners may occasionally be misled by overlapping images of radio-opaque objects on X-rays and misinterpret these as foreign bodies. We present a case where a spring device belonging to a Foley’s catheter valve in the pelvic region could have been mistaken for an intervertebral foreign body on X-rays taken after a spinal operation.