Penetrating thoracic injuries – treatment of two patients after suicide attempts

Abstract

Thoracic injuries are usually caused by penetrating or blunt trauma. The primary method of treatment is surgery. This study describes two cases of male patients with stab wounds of the chest resulting from suicide attempts. The first case involved a 29-year-old patient transported and admitted to the hospital with a knife still in his chest; its blade extended from the jugular notch to the 5th thoracic vertebra but did not damage any important structures. The applied treatment, limited to evacuating the knife, resulted in a satisfactory outcome, and the patient was discharged from the intensive care unit (ICU) in good condition. The second patient reached the hospital on his own. On admission, he did not reveal the real cause of the wound; however, in view of his deteriorating condition, he admitted that the knife penetrated deeply into the mediastinum. In this case, sternotomy was necessary to stop the bleeding of the pulmonary trunk and internal thoracic artery. After completion of treatment, the patient was discharged in good condition. The described management of life-threatening situations conducted by a multidisciplinary team of consultants enabled the choice of optimal treatment methods and resulted in successful outcomes.

Penetrating thoracic ice pick injury extending into pulmonary artery: Report of a case

“…Our patient was lucky enough in that there was no evidence of injury to the left main coronary trunk, which is located behind the annulus of the pulmonary valve. Also, since the injury was mainly seen in the right-heart system with low pressure, critical complications including cardiac tamponade did not occur [ 8 ]. Importantly, the psychological aspects of our case were quite challenging.…”

A penetrating thoracic ice pick injury near the heart

“…1,2 Thoracic injuries should always be handled with extreme caution, when the patient presents with hemodynamic instability urgent thoracotomy should be performed, and if the patient is stable, advanced diagnostics should be employed as soon as possible to confirm or exclude damage to vital organs. 3 Luckily, our patient had no signs of vascular or cardiac trauma and the ice pick could be removed without the need for a major surgical procedure.…”