Can the Properties of surgical needle Be identified in Cremation remains?

Question

Ok,If a surgical needle was left in a person,then they died,could the needleds propertys be identifyed ?say to prove it was there.The records state a needle was missing.Yet never found,my dad bleed internailly and had horrible abdomin pain untill death.Pleaae be frank and honest.

Answer 1

It would be very difficult to find a needle either on autopsy or by searching through cremation remains. It may be worth trying. You might get lucky. A retained needle is unlikely to do any harm though and is not likely to be the cause of your fathers internal bleeding or pain.

Answer 2

After a person is cremated, the remains are taken into what is called a processing room. They are dumped into a tray, and then the operator passes a large magnet over the cremains. This ensures that no metal will be put into the processor (think blender.....)

We pulled out allllll kinds of things. Fake hips, pins, nuts, bolts, dental fillings, pieces of jewelery, metal plates. On occasion, stranger things than that.

Retorts burn at around 1750F when running properly. And things do survive....we found a rose once. It just looked like it was freeze dried. Really bizarre what makes it and what doesn't.

The thing is...if they found a needle, it was thrown away. There would be no way to prove that it came from your father.

It sucks what happened to your dad. But whats done is done, and there isnt much you can do. Don't torture yourself with the "what if's".

Peas
Meg

Answer 3

I'm sorry for your loss. I'm pretty sure the temperatures are high enough with cremation to cause disintegration of a needle. This is unfortunate - it could have been found easily on autopsy.

Answer 4

No, it cannot be found after cremation.But if you had an autopsy then maybe it would have been found.