Anaesthesia in the prone position for impalement injury

A 22-year-old man was brought to the Emergency Department in the prone position, having been impaled in the right buttock with a large pitchfork. He was in excruciating pain and nauseated; attempts to move the patient or the pitchfork caused severe pain. Caudal blockade was carried out in the prone position, without moving the patient, and proved to be very efficacious. The pitchfork was then removed painlessly, allowing us to turn the patient supine. A conventional induction of general anaesthesia was then made possible.