Full title: A 44-year-old man went to the hospital after pus began oozing from his chest, where doctors discovered a knife that had been embedded in his body for eight years. According to the report, he showed no signs of chest pain, breathing problems, coughing, or fever, and was otherwise in good health.
Lucky they didn’t go straight for the MRI
I have worked so much with lathes and milling machines, that I fear having to have an MRI.
I bet I’m full of small bits of sharp metal. In fact, I have a macro photo of my finger full of tiny needles.
If you get scheduled for an MRI they will specifically ask if you have worked as a machinist. If you answer yes, they make you go to a location that can take x-rays before letting you in the MRI machine.
At least, that’s what happened when I had to schedule an MRI.
A 44-year-old male Tanzanian presented to our facility with a 10-day history of pus discharge below the right nipple. He denied any chest pain, difficulty breathing, cough, or fever. The patient recalled being involved in a violent altercation 8 years ago, during which he sustained multiple cuts to his face, back, chest, and abdomen. Following the incident, he sought first aid at a primary health facility, where his wounds were sutured; however, no radiological investigation was conducted at that time as hemostasis was achieved, despite of no suspicious of foreign body retention in part injured, there was no facilities for radiological investigations. He had an uneventful course over the next 8 years until his current presentation.
Wow, is there an article to read more about this? This is insane!
I’m gonna guess alcohol was involved in the initial event.
Also, imagine being the radiologist and seeing that pop up on the screen. I’m imagining the doctor in Death Becomes Her, although that reference might be too old for many of you.
Could you imagine being the person who stabbed him and just watching him walk away and not even react?
They were so intrigued by the experience of cutting into someone and seeing them live through the event that they turned away from a life of crime and went to school to become a surgeon. Now, 8 years later, a familiar face shows up in the waiting room…
Where’s the article?
Link to article in spoiler. This is your warning, graphic images are embedded in the paper (wound with draining pus and photos from surgery).
Kivuyo, Nashivai et al. “An eight-year asymptomatic retention of a knife blade in the chest: a case report”, Journal of surgical case reports vol. 2025,6 rjaf325. 31 May. 2025, doi:10.1093/jscr/rjaf325
The CT scan and its reconstruction are wild.
From the surgery image, which I won’t repost, I wonder if the handle broke off before/during the attack, or if it was broken down in the thoracic cavity?
Must have been a fall no? I don’t know how someone could push a knife that deep without firmly gripping the handle. And if your hand is on the handle it’s a natural stop.
The article says a stabbing. I struggle to imagine it too, but maybe a fall while it was still protruding, like you say.
A 44-year-old male, otherwise healthy, presented with a right chest wall sinus discharging pus, 8 years after sustaining multiple stab wounds treated with primary first aid only.
Yeah, that sums up my question. Sliced, then stabbed and then a fall, or a cheap knife handle that let go once the attacker tried to pull it out.
The lack of imaging, even an x-ray is surprising, but I don’t live in Tazmania so I don’t know their level of access to such things. Or how willing the patient would have been to sit still for it.
The paper identifies availability of imaging tech and trained personnel as one of the issues in its discussion section.
The current case report underscores the significant challenges in trauma care within resource-limited settings, where access to basic imaging and surgical expertise is limited.
[…]
In areas with limited resources, patients should be promptly referred to higher-level healthcare facilities capable of providing comprehensive diagnostic and surgical care.I just keep thinking about what would happen if they fell on somebody or got into one of those awful “crowd crush” situations. Wouldn’t take long for medical personnel to figure it out (at least in broad strokes) but I’m picturing a phantom stabbing mystery where they just find his body with a protruding blade that finally worked itself loose and finished the job from nearly a decade prior. Either that or the pointy bit is forced out the front and gets somebody else.
I wonder if whoever owns the rights to the Final Destination movies takes suggestions.