Background and objectives : Existence of foreign bodies in head and neck tissues may be caused by both injuries and incorrect medical treatment. There are many medical articles describing cases of foreign bodies in head and neck tissues such as metal, glass, organic materials – wood and plastics. They might be as well the result of inappropriate treatment.

Aim of this study : The objective of this work is to assess the possibilities of the use of computed tomography in diagnosis of existence of different foreign bodies compared to conventional RTG diagnosis.

Methods : This work is the result of the review of medical literature and experiments. A head of pig was used for the experiment in order to imitate the conditions of human body. 12 different foreign bodies were put into it. CBCT and conventional RTG diagnosis were carried out then.12 different objects with different absorption grades of RTG radiation were used in the experiment. Materials that occur most often with the patients after head and neck injuries or may be the result of incorrect medical treatment were chosen. CBCT was carried out using apparatus New Tom 3G (model QR-DVT 9000).

Result : As distinct from classical computed tomography CBCT cannot be used to measure the level of RTG radiation absorption in Hounsfield units. Therefore the results were gathered based on RTG radiation absorption by different foreign bodies shown in the pictures and compared to nearby structures such as: air, soft tissues and bones. Foreign bodies made of materials that have high level of the RTG radiation absorption such as: metal, concrete, disc are visible well on conventional RTG images. On the contrary, non-metallic foreign bodies such as wood, glass and medical materials are hardly visible.

Conclusions : CBCT is a valuable tool used in diagnostics of the existence of foreign bodies.