A 7-year-old girl presented to the emergency room (ER) with alleged history of aspiration of a toy magnet. The challenge was to safely extract the foreign body. A bronchoscopic approach with forceps, or Dormia basket, or Fogarty catheter, was considered, but these approaches had disadvantages, such as slipping or impaction of the object, and oxygen desaturation. Applying principles of removal of intraocular metallic objects in ophthalmologic surgery using magnetism, the object was removed with the help of another larger surface magnet. The location of the foreign body was confirmed by bronchoscopy. A Fogarty catheter was introduced distal to the object, under bronchoscopic guidance. A strong surface magnet was then placed on the surface of the chest and under C-arm guidance, the object was moved from the bronchus to the trachea. Once at the vocal cords, the Fogarty catheter was inflated to prevent it from slipping back and the magnet was extracted using forceps.
Introduction Electrical injuries account for 5 to 27% of admissions to burn units. The nervous system is affected in as much as 21% of nervous injuries, with reported mortality.
Case Report The authors report a case of a patient presenting to the neurosurgical service with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) caused due to an electrical burn. Available data was reviewed through a PubMed search of literature, with special attention to the nature of presentation, classification of such injuries, the pathophysiology of the events that arise, complications to be expected, and the guidelines for management.
Conclusion It is possible for electrical injuries to cause TBIs requiring neurosurgical intervention.
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