Citation

Yokosuka T, Kobayashi T, Fujiogi M, Kawakami M, Yasuno M. Gen. Thorac Cardiovasc. Surg. 2013; 63(5): 298-301.

Affiliation

Department of Surgery, Tokyo Metropolitan Hiroo General Hospital, Ebisu 2-34-10, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, 150-0013, Japan, tetsuya_yokosuka@tmhp.jp.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s11748-013-0296-3

PMID

23897293

Abstract

Thoracic impalement injury is an uncommon form of trauma. In the present report, we describe the case of a 78-year-old man who was injured by 2 metal rods. We decided to remove the rod on the right side by performing video-assisted thoracic surgery. However, during this procedure, total pleural adhesion was identified. Therefore, a mini-thoracotomy was performed and the rod was removed safely; the patient's postoperative course was uneventful. The rod on the left side did not pass through the thoracic cavity. There are only a few reports of thoracic impalement injury in literature, and cases with total pleural adhesion are very rare. Careful preoperative planning and a multidisciplinary approach are essential for managing this type of injury.

Language: en