Doctors remove six-inch rod from back of 19-year-old

New Delhi, Feb 16: Doctors at a city hospital have removed a six-inch-long pointed iron rod that was lodged in the back of a 19-year-old man and had pierced through his internal organs up to his chest.

Mukul was rushed to the emergency department of the hospital on November 15 with a part of the iron rod protruding out of his back. He was stabbed in the back and about 6-7 cm of the rod was buried in his body puncturing the posterior chest wall, doctors said.

Excessive mediastinal bleeding is a significant complication of cardiac operations with cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). It increases risks of cardiac failure and infection, Dr Priyadarshini Singh, Head of Department - Emergency - Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals said.

The CT scan showed massive blood clot in the right side of the chest. The iron rod was seen lodged close to major blood vessels. He was immediately shifted to the cardiac ICU and was prepared for an emergency surgery.

"The major challenge was that all procedures had to be done with him lying on his stomach as he had this huge iron rod sticking out of his back. In such cases, the foreign body should not be touched till the patient goes to the operation theatre. "This is because, the object is actually helping to control the bleeding as it creates pressure. If removed without proper precautions, there could have been blood loss and even death within minutes. To prevent blood loss we had also made arrangements for blood in advance," Singh elaborated.

Explaining about the procedure, Dr Muthu Jothi, Senior Consultant, Paediatric Cardio Thoracic Surgeon at the hospital said after evaluation they decided to perform thoracotomy which is a surgery to open the chest. There was a big clot on the aorta and an additional injury to area of left corner lope of lung.

"An incision was made between 2 ribs in the chest wall from front to back to operate on lungs. "We then placed a chest tube to make sure that blood or air does not collect in the chest. Later he was put on nasal prongs with oxygen. There was also a linear tear in the diaphragm which was repaired to prevent any complication. We sealed all the wounds and closed the chest in layers," Jothi said.

Mukul improved gradually and with the support of medication. He was discharged on November 18. "We suggested ample rest and precautions for two months post-surgery. When Mukul visited us last week for follow up, he was advised to resume to his normal life as he seemed perfectly healthy," Jothi said. Father of Mukul said that his son received immediate attention and was immediately examined and operated. "When we were told that the operation is successful, we had no words to express our gratitude to the doctor and his team," he said.