Medical Must-See: Doctors extract air rifle pellet after patient’s close shave
The 6.57mm pellet caused a haematoma that displaced the patient’s trachea.
A young man with an air rifle injury was able to avoid catastrophic consequences after doctors in New Zealand successfully removed a lead pellet lodged behind his carotid artery.
The 18-year-old was taken to ED with an entrance wound located right to the midline of the neck but no exit wound.
He was haemodynamically stable, with a small amount of active bleeding.
Doctors also noted subcutaneous emphysema and a “moderate haematoma displacing the trachea to the left”, but examination was otherwise unremarkable, and no bruit was detected.
