Surgical management of an abdominal impalement injury: a case report / Manejo quirúrgico de una lesion por empalamiento abdominal: reporte de caso

Impalement injuries are a complex and rare type of penetrating abdominal trauma that happens when an object such as a post or a pole penetrates a person injuring several organs, making it a life-threatening situation in which time and correct management play an important part in the survival of the patient. A 37-year-old man suffered abdominal impalement injury with a metal signal post, penetrating the left flank of the abdomen. On examination, there is a hypoventilated left hemithorax with intercostal retractions, increased heart rate, weak distal pulses, delayed capillary refill, and pale skin. A 1-meter-long metal post (approximately 7cm diameter) penetrates the left flank with the entry in the posterior lumbar region. Abdominal viscera, omentum, intestinal content, and ischemic loops of the small intestine are visible. An exploratory laparotomy was performed; left hemicolectomy, end colostomy and Hartmann procedure, resection of the affected jejunum, and end-to-end anastomosis were performed. On the ninth postoperative day, an abdominal tomography was performed due to the presence of fever peaks, which reported thrombosis of the left renal artery and emphysematous pyelonephritis, with the presence of a left pararenal collection. A simple left nephrectomy was performed. Postoperative surveillance was satisfactory during the following 5 days. The patient was discharged. An impaled injury is a complex lesion that needs special attention from the medical field for correct management. Although there is some literature about it, we encourage more research to be done about impalement injuries.

Las lesiones por empalamiento son un tipo de traumatismo abdominal penetrante complejo y raro de que se produce cuando un objeto, como un poste o una vara, penetra a una persona lesionando varios órganos, lo que la convierte en una situación potencialmente mortal en la que el tiempo y el manejo correcto juegan un papel importante en la supervivencia del paciente. Un hombre de 37 años sufrió una herida por empalamiento abdominal con un poste de señales de metal, penetrando el flanco izquierdo del abdomen. A la exploración física, hay un hemitórax izquierdo hipoventilado con retracciones intercostales, aumento de la frecuencia cardíaca, pulsos distales débiles, relleno capilar retrasado y piel pálida. Un poste metálico de 1 metro de largo (aproximadamente 7 cm de diámetro) penetra el flanco izquierdo con entrada en la región lumbar posterior. Son visibles las vísceras abdominales, el epiplón, el contenido intestinal y las asas isquémicas del intestino delgado. Se realizó una laparotomía exploradora; Se realizó hemicolectomía izquierda, colostomía terminal y procedimiento de Hartmann, resección del yeyuno afectado y anastomosis terminoterminal. Al noveno día postoperatorio se realiza tomografía abdominal por presencia de picos febriles, que reporta trombosis de arteria renal izquierda y pielonefritis enfisematosa, con presencia de colección pararrenal izquierda. Se realizó nefrectomía izquierda simple. La vigilancia postoperatoria fue satisfactoria durante los siguientes 5 días. El paciente fue dado de alta. Una lesión por empalamiento es una lesión compleja que necesita una atención especial desde el ámbito médico para su correcto manejo. Aunque existe cierta literatura al respecto, alentamos a que se realicen más investigaciones sobre estas lesiones.

Self-inflicted craniofacial impalement injury with a screwdriver during the COVID-19 pandemic: A case report

Objective@#To present a case of a 37-year-old man presenting with craniofacial impalement injury from a screwdriver that happened during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. @*Methods@#Design: Case Report. Setting: Tertiary Government Training Hospital. Patient: One. @*Results@#During the early stages of COVID-19 pandemic a 37-year-old man was brought to the emergency room with a screwdriver embedded in his right eye. A multidisciplinary team observing available recommendations (level IV PPE, carefully planned operative directives) successfully performed endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery with application of a nasoseptal Hadad flap and abdominal fat obliteration. Aside from medial gaze limitations of the right eye, there was no CSF leak or rhinorrhea and no neurologic sequelae on follow up. @*Conclusion@#Endoscopic skull base surgery for such an impalement injury as this is a formidable multidisciplinary challenge, even in normal times. The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic presented additional challenges. Observing evolving guidelines minimized the high risk of exposure for health care workers while maximizing care for the patient.

Thoracic impalement injury: A survivor with large metallic object in-situ / 中华创伤杂志(英文版)

Impalement injuries, is a severe form of trauma, which are not common in civilian life. These injuries rarely occurs in major accidents. Abdomen, chest, limbs and perineum are often involved due to their large surface area. Thoracic impalement injury is usually a fatal injury, due to location of major vessels and heart in the thoracic cavity. These injuries are horrifying to site, but the patients who are lucky enough to make it to hospital, usually survive. Chances of survival are larger in right sided impalement injuries while central injuries are always died at the scene. Our patient, 25 years old male, was brought to the emergency room (ER) with large impaled metallic bar (about 2.5 feet long) in situ, in right sided chest. The patient was immediately shifted to operation room (OR) and was operated, his recovery was uneventful without any sequelae. Such patients should be treated and resuscitated according to advanced trauma life support (ATLS) protocols and operated without any delay for further investigations. Such operations are carried out by the most experienced surgeon team available. The impaled objects should not be processed if not necessary to avoid major hemorrhage and damage to vital structures, until the patient is in operation room. Large size and unusual position of impaled objects, makes the job difficult for surgeons/anesthetists. Although horrifying at scene, patients with thoracic impalement injuries are mostly young and healthy, and those who survive the pre-hospital phase are potentially manageable with proper resuscitation. Usually these patients make recovery without any further complications.

Damage control resuscitation: A case of thoraco abdominal impalement

Damage Control Resuscitation and Surgery is the concept of controlled hypotension, haemostatic resuscitation and abbreviated surgical procedures following severe trauma; the practice of which has resulted in improved mortality and morbidity. We describe a rare case of thoraco-abdominal impalement successfully managed based on the concept of Damage Control Resuscitation.

El empalamiento inguinal como reto diagnóstico y terapéutico para el médico y cirujano de urgencias / Inguinal impalement; diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for emergency medical and surgeon

Introducción: el objetivo de este trabajo es presentar un caso de empalamiento a través de la región inguinal. Las heridas por empalamiento son infrecuentes y, en ocasiones, de extrema gravedad, necesitan de una actuación rápida del personal médico de urgencias y del cirujano. Caso clínico: se presenta el caso de un varón de 40 años que sufrió un accidente laboral con empalamiento de un hierro de ferralla a través de la región inguinal derecha, el cuerpo extraño penetró en la cavidad abdominal. Se expone ampliamente el caso clínico, así como los procedimientos realizados en el diagnóstico y el tratamiento de este tipo de lesiones. Conclusiones: las heridas por empalamiento son infrecuentes y suponen un reto para el personal médico que atiende al afectado desde el primer momento, tanto por lo complejas que pueden ser, como por la necesidad de una actuación rápida, sin poder conocer a priori, en muchas de las situaciones, la extensión verdadera de las lesiones, que se evidenciará durante el posible acto operatorio(AU)

Introduction: the objective of this paper was to present a case of impalement through the inguinal region. The impalement injuries are infrequent and sometimes extremely serious. These injuries require prompt action of the emergency medical personnel and surgeon. Clinical case: a forty-year old man, who had an occupational accident resulting in impalement of an iron rebar through the right inguinal region and penetrating abdominal cavity. The clinical case and the procedures performed in the diagnosis and treatment of these injuries were presented in detail. Conclusions: The impalement injuries are rare and represent a challenge to the medical staff that treat the patient from the very beginning, because they can be very complex and require fast action and treatment. In many cases, the real dimension and severity of lesions at first is unknown and can only be assessed during surgery(AU)