A case report of a polytrauma patient with penetrating iron rods in thorax and head

作者：Tang, Xinpu; Chen, Hongxu; Chen, Chaoyue; Xu, Jianguo^*

来源：Medicine, 2018, 97(41): e12376.

DOI：10.1097/MD.0000000000012376

• iron bar
• penetrating trauma
• thorax

Introduction: Impalement injury is an uncommon presentation, and penetrating chest injuries account for 1% to 13% of thoracic trauma hospital admissions. The vast majority of patients with penetrating thoracic trauma who survive to reach the hospital alive can be managed nonoperatively. Nevertheless, in 10% to 15% of cases, emergency operation is necessary due to the associated hemorrhagic shock and visceral injury.
Case presentation: Here, we report on a 39-year-old male, a construction worker, who fell down from a height of a construction site, landing ventrally on a clump of iron rods with 4 projecting heavy metallic rods penetrating into his thorax and head (scalp pierced only). Emergency surgery was taken, and the patient had an uneventful successful outcome.
Conclusions: After massive thoracic impalement, rapid transportation to a tertiary trauma center with the impaled objects in situ can improve the outcome. Video-assisted thoracic surgery (VATS) is recommended to remove the foreign body under direct vision and to reduce the incidence of missed, potentially fatal vascular or visceral injuries.

• 出版日期2018-10
• 单位四川大学