A 17-year-old boy was sent to the emergency service for an accidental nail-gun shot injury of the chest. His blood pressure was 90/60 mm Hg, heart rate was 110 bpm, and oxygen saturation was 87% before anesthetic induction in the operating room. Transesophageal echocardiography undertaken after induction with general anesthesia and endotracheal intubation showed that the left ventricle and descending aorta were penetrated by the nail. There was large amount of pericardial effusion with cardiac tamponade. Periaortic hematoma was evident by transesophageal echocardiography. Under partial cardiopulmonary bypass, the nail was removed, and the wounds of the left ventricular wall and descending aorta were repaired. The patient was discharged uneventfully 7 days after the accident.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.