Take 7 needles in the chest of a 28-year-old woman

April 28, 2022 23:05 GMT+7

This rare case is a patient with NT H (28 years old, living in Binh Thuy district – Can Tho city). The patient was admitted to the hospital on April 27, 2022 with dull pain, chest tightness, and difficulty breathing. The doctors conducted X-ray and CT-Scan of the chest and confirmed that there were 07 needle-shaped foreign bodies about 04cm long located in the left mediastinum and pleural cavity with moderate pericardial effusion. Doctors consulted and decided to surgically remove the foreign body from the chest.

Taking the medical history, it was known that more than 2 months ago the patient showed signs of stress because he knew he was infected with HIV, so he stabbed himself with a needle.

7 needles were removed by the doctor.

Determining that this is a serious and complicated injury, the hospital has conducted consultations with many specialties: Emergency Resuscitation, Vascular thoracic, Surgery – Anesthesia resuscitation. It is worth noting that the patient is infected with HIV, so the immune system is weakened, the risk of infection is very high during and after surgery. In addition, the surgical team raised their spirits because the patient successfully performed the surgery while ensuring the safety of medical staff.

After nearly 03 hours of surgery by thoracotomy, the doctors removed 07 needles from the patient’s chest, of which 01 pierced the left atrium, 03 pierced the aortic arch, and 01 punctured the lobe. on the left lung, 01 tree in the left pleural space, 01 tree in the chest wall muscle (broken in half).

The thoracic surgeon said that when the sharp object enters the chest, it will move to the center according to the suction of the heart. Currently, the patient is stable and is being monitored at the Department of Surgery – Anesthesia and Resuscitation.

K.Chi