Abstract
The patient was a 64‐year‐old woman who stabbed her neck with a kitchen knife in an attempt to commit suicide. The tip of the knife was chipped and lodged into the first thoracic vertebra. It was removed using a drill.
Keywords: neck injuries, self‐stabbing, suicide
Patient with stab wounds is hemodynamically stable as blades serve as local tamponades. Spiral computed tomography is an essential diagnostic modality for patients with neck stab wounds, for it expedites decision‐making on surgical approach and extent.
Self‐stabbing is an uncommon method of suicide, accounting for only 1%–3% of suicide attempts. Among these, 40% involve a penetrating neck injury. 1 , 2 We present the case of a 64‐year‐old woman who stabbed her neck with a kitchen knife in an attempt to commit suicide. On examination, she was stable and conversant (Figure 1A). Post‐intubation computed tomography (CT) revealed a cervical vertebral wound, and damaged anterior and posterior tracheal walls. The tip of the knife was chipped and lodged into the first thoracic vertebra. No pneumothorax and extravascular leakage, suggestive of damage to the cervical arteriovenous system, were noted (Figures 1B,C). An emergency operation was performed to remove the knife. The lodged knife tip was removed by scraping the vertebral body with a drill (Figure 1D). The thyroid isthmus and the anterior and posterior walls of the trachea were sutured. Tracheal stenosis was noted postoperatively. She was discharged on postoperative day 39 without complications. Patients with stab wounds are hemodynamically stable on admission because blades serve as local tamponades. Spiral computed tomography is an essential diagnostic modality for patients with stab wounds on the neck, for it expedites decision‐making on surgical approach and extent.
FIGURE 1.
(A) Position of the retained knife. (B) Computed tomography images of the knife position in the neck wound. (C) Three‐dimensional volume‐rendering images performed with bone densitometry reconstruction of the passing of the knife from the front of the neck to the first thoracic vertebra. (D) Picture of the single‐edged kitchen knife used for the suicide attempt (blade length: 16.5 cm; maximum width: 4 cm).
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
I meet the current International Medical Journal Editorial Board (ICMJE) authorship criteria.
FUNDING INFORMATION
This work did not receive any grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not‐for‐profit sectors.
ETHICAL APPROVAL
Our institution does not require ethics committee approval for case reports.
CONSENT
Informed consent was obtained from the patient to publish this report in accordance with the journal's patient consent policy.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to thank Editage (www.editage.com) for English language editing.
Ushio M. Self‐inflicted stab wound at first thoracic vertebra. Clin Case Rep. 2022;10:e06527. doi: 10.1002/ccr3.6527
DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
On reasonable request, derived data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author.
REFERENCES
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Associated Data
This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.
Data Availability Statement
On reasonable request, derived data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author.