title: Mediastinal impalement with a fibreglass sheet.
abstract: Mediastinal impalement injuries are uncommon and often fatal. There have been very few reported cases of survival following mediastinal impalement. Patients who present with these injuries always undergo operative intervention regardless of their underlying haemodynamic status or associated injuries. We herein present a case of mediastinal impalement injury, where a sheet of fibreglass had fractured the manubrium and entered the anterior mediastinum with no associated great vessel injury. The fibreglass sheet was removed via a partial sternotomy and the patient made an uneventful postoperative recovery.
authors.forename: Welege Samantha Buddhika
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Wimalachandra
authors.affiliation: Division of Thoracic Surgery, Department of General Surgery, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, Singapore 308433. atasha_asmat@ttsh.com.sg.
authors.forename: Atasha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Asmat
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000601:surgery; D005898:Glass; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008482:Mediastinum / Q000601:surgery*; D060051:Occupational Injuries; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D056346:Sternotomy; D013898:Thoracic Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014950:Wounds, Penetrating / Q000601:surgery*; D014951:Wounds, Stab / Q000601:surgery*
chemical_list: C009753:fiberglass