title: Artistic assault: an unusual penetrating head injury reported as a trivial facial trauma.
abstract: The authors report a case of penetrating head injury that presented with a deceptively mild complaint. To our knowledge, it is the first report of a paint brush penetrating the brain. The patient reported being punched in the left eye and presented with a minor headache, swelling around the left orbit, a small cut on the cheek and slightly reduced left eye abduction. After radiological evaluation, a penetrating head injury was diagnosed. Under general anesthesia, through a lateral eyelid incision a 10.5 cm long paint brush, which had penetrated from the left orbit to the right thalamus, was removed. No post-operative infection was seen at six months follow-up. This brief report serves to highlight that penetrating brain injury can occur without neurological deficit and that a minimally invasive surgical approach was successful in avoiding any complications.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Mandat
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Honey
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Peters
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D005129:Eye Foreign Bodies / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D015807:Eye Injuries, Penetrating / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D005143:Eyelids / Q000601:surgery; D005151:Facial Injuries / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019060:Minimally Invasive Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D009915:Orbit / Q000293:injuries / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D009917:Orbital Fractures / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D013788:Thalamus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014754:Violence