The nail moved from the shoulder to the lung of an 18-year-old boy.
The Kirschner nail was used by doctors to perform a collarbone fusion surgery on the patient 7 months ago.
The young man was admitted to the hospital in Phu Tho on May 20, with pain in the base of his left lung, epigastric pain radiating to his back, mild shortness of breath, and reduced left lung ventilation. Seven months ago, the patient had surgery to fuse his left clavicle with two Kirschner nails.
Chest X-ray and CT scan images showed a metal foreign body in the patient's left pleural cavity, with left pneumothorax.
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X-ray and CT scan images of the patient before surgery. Photo:Mai Nguyen. |
The surgeons performed thoracoscopy on the patient to remove the foreign object, a Kirschner nail, and treat the pneumothorax. One day after the surgery, the patient's health was stable and the pleural drainage was removed.
Doctor Duong Xuan Phuong, who directly operated on the patient, said that this was a rare case. The nail had gradually moved from the patient's left collarbone down and freely fell into the left pleural cavity.
"Fortunately, the nail only tore the lung tissue, causing a pneumothorax in the left pleural cavity," said Dr. Phuong.
