Accidental Strangulation with Cervical Nerve Root Injury Caused by the Entrapment of Clothing in a Soybean Milling Machine

Abstract

The clothing of a forty-five-year-old man became entrapped by the mixing rotator while he was operating a soybean milling machine. His clothing was wound around the rotator, and tightened around his neck and chest, causing strangulation and a loss of consciousness. He was rescued by his coworkers and transported to our hospital by helicopter. Upon arrival, he regained consciousness. A physiological examination revealed multiple petechiae on his face and strangulation marks with subcutaneous hemorrhage on his neck and upper trunk. In addition, he had motor weakness of the right upper extremity and bilateral paresthesia from C5 to Th1. All radiological studies were negative. He was admitted for observation. After the patient’s creatine phosphokinase level peaked and his focal neurological signs improved, he was discharged on foot on the 6th hospital day. Accidental ligature strangulation with cervical nerve root injury, in which an article of clothing is caught in an electrical machine and strangles the wearer, is very rare. This case is presented for its rarity and the unique pattern of injury.