The use of CT angiography for preoperative evaluation of large foreign body retention following penetrating trauma

Description

A 31-year-old man presented to the accident and emergency department with a penetrating injury to his left posterolateral chest wall. He was haemodynamically stable, and there was no significant bleeding from the entry point. Plain anterior radiography (figure 1) of the chest revealed a knife embedded within the extrathoracic tissues extending through the scapula, posterior to the clavicle with the tip lying in the left anterior triangle of the neck.

Figure 1

Plain anterior radiograph of the chest revealed a foreign body, with features consistent with a knife embedded within the extrathoracic tissues extending through the scapula, posterior to the clavicle with the tip lying in the left anterior triangle of the neck.

A CT angiogram with three-dimensional reconstruction was performed, given the proximity to important neurovascular structures. This revealed the anterior edge of the knife was related posteriorly...

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