Innocuous cardiac gunshot that proved fatal: A bitter lesson learned.
The management of hemodynamically normal patients with retained intra-pericardial foreign body remains a matter of conjecture. The available literature supports non-operative management of such innocuous foreign bodies. We report our experience of a hemodynamically normal patient with a retained intra-pericardial pellet from a firearm injury. He initially received successful non-operative management but developed fatal hemopericardium 21 days after injury. In this paper, we discussed the pitfalls in the management of such injuries in light of the available literature and summarized the clinical experience.
Department of Surgical Disciplines, JPN Apex Trauma Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
Biplab
B
Mishra
Department of Surgical Disciplines, JPN Apex Trauma Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India. Electronic address: drmohitjoshi@gmail.com.
Mohit Kumar
MK
Joshi
Department of Surgical Disciplines, JPN Apex Trauma Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
Subodh
S
Kumar
Department of Radiodiagnosis, JPN Apex Trauma Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
Atin
A
Kumar
Department of Surgical Disciplines, JPN Apex Trauma Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
Amit
A
Gupta
Department of Surgical Disciplines, JPN Apex Trauma Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
Amulya
A
Rattan
Department of Surgical Disciplines, JPN Apex Trauma Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
Sushma
S
Sagar
Department of Surgical Disciplines, JPN Apex Trauma Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
Maneesh
M
Singhal
Department of Surgical Disciplines, JPN Apex Trauma Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110029, India.
Mahesh Chandra
MC
Misra
D000328:Adult; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000628:therapy*; D006335:Heart Injuries / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000628:therapy*
Firearms; Gunshot; Heart; Pericardium; Wounds