Doctors in Chiayi County have removed a 6cm grass-trimmer blade from a 63-year-old man after it snapped off when it hit a rock and struck him in the chest.
The man, surnamed Lin (林), was helping a friend cut grass in Minsyong Township (民雄) when the trimmer he was using hit a rock and he felt a sudden, sharp pain in his chest, leaving him unable to continue working, Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital said in a statement on Tuesday.
After packing up his tools, Lin drove to a hospital, where staff, upon seeing the severity of his injury, transferred him to the emergency room at the larger Dalin Tzu Chi Hospital, it said.
Photo: CNA
Lin was treated for a 2cm puncture wound in his chest, and despite blood loss, his breathing and pulse were normal, the hospital said.
Using a chest X-ray and a computed tomography scan performed at the referring hospital, Tzu Chi doctors located the 6cm steel blade fragment in his chest — directly in front of his heart and near his five great blood vessels, it said.
Chen I-chung (陳奕中), a thoracic surgeon at the hospital, said the operation was highly risky, as even a slight incorrect movement could pierce Lin’s heart and cause fatal hemorrhaging.
Following a discussion with Chang Chien-hua (張兼華), director of the hospital’s cardiovascular surgery department, Chen conducted an internal examination using a thoracoscope — a thin, flexible tube with a light and a video camera on the end.
After concluding that the surgery could be performed safely, Chen extracted the blade fragment through the original puncture wound, and then removed the surrounding tissue to reduce the risk of bacterial infection from the blade, the statement said.
After about one hour of surgery, Lin was moved to an intensive care unit for two days of observation, the hospital said, adding that he has since been discharged and was recovering at home in stable condition.
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