Accidental chest penetration of glass foreign bodies in a 53 year old lady—The challenges with video assisted thoracoscopic extraction

Abstract

HighlightsA woman suffered chest injuries from glass without being aware of foreign bodies.We performed urgent video-assisted thoracic surgery to remove the foreign bodies.Preoperatively determining the number of glass pieces by CT is essential.For glass injuries, the possibility of traumatic implantation must be considered.VATS failed to remove the second glass piece and that we converted to thoracotomy.

Near miss for big red: a unique case of penetrating glass injury of the thoracic spine and posterior mediastinum

“…We were also able to obtain water-soluble swallow study to rule out esophageal injury. While others have reported on thoracotomy to remove glass shards 10 or retained knife fragments, 6 we are the first to discuss multiple surgical approaches for this type of penetrating glass injury with simultaneous posterior mediastinal and spinal column involvement.…”

“…Penetrating injuries can have unpredictable trajectories and multiple foreign bodies can be concealed or inadvertently retained. 6,10 Thus, if the situation allows, surgeons need to have a low threshold for high-resolution imaging to rule out visceral injury and examine all potentially injured structures. In our case, the patient was hemodynamically stable and neurologically intact; hence, we were able to obtain contrast-enhanced computer tomography of the thorax, which demonstrated puncture of fragmented glass shards into the posterior mediastinum in immediate proximity to the aorta and esophagus.…”

A case of traumatic intrapleural foreign body with progressive supranuclear palsy removed by thoracoscopic surgery

“…Traumatic intrathoracic foreign bodies occur more when the patient himself/herself is aware of it [1] , but sometimes he/she is not aware of the invasion of foreign bodies. Especially, the patient with neurodegenerative disease and psychiatric disorder is often accompanied by the loss of consciousness by the autonomic neuropathy [7] , and the lowering of the recognition function may be recognized, and there are many cases in which the interview is difficult.…”

“…Unlike iatrogenic intrathoracic foreign bodies such as Kirschner steel wire and gauze aberration, traumatic intrathoracic foreign bodies such as bullets and industrial accidents are said to occur in many cases when the patient himself/herself is aware of the trauma [1] . However, at the time of injury, the patient may sometimes be accompanied by loss of consciousness.…”

A case of foreign body in the skin

“…This patient suffered from an injury from a glass ball without being aware that it was implanted in the scalp, and this is a very rarely reported foreign body in the skin . This case provides an example of the importance for careful patient history taking with pediatric patients prior to treatment, because even the parent was unaware of the injury.…”