Air gun injury to the pericardium in a 9-year-old boy

The authors present the case of a 9-year-old boy who sustained a gunshot injury to the pericardium by an air gun. The penetrative wound to the pericardium was, according to the performed pre-operative diagnostic methods, initially believed to be a penetrative wound into the cardiophrenic angle of the left pleural cavity. The stabilized patient was indicated for an extraction of the projectile through a left anterior minithoracotomy, during which the projectile was found and successfully removed from the pericardium. The limits of pre-operative assessment, optimal treatment procedures, and surgical approaches in pediatric patients with gunshot injuries to the chest and heart are discussed.