ABSTRACT
The presence of foreign bodies such as metals or poorly soluble compounds in the skin and other body tissues can cause an inflammatory reaction and damage. The phagocytic and hydrolytic capacity of degradative enzymes are usually sufficient to destroy or effectively sequester the foreign material and no granuloma will form. Normal healing processes can give rise to inflammation that can be of 3-4 weeks duration, representing chronic, nongranulomatous inflammation. Benign proliferation of blood vessels, perivascular mononuclear cells, and fibroblasts involved in the process can produce the aspect of granuloma or subepidermal fibroma with or without inflammatory component, but the classification of such clinical aspects as granuloma would be a misnomer (1).
