Trauma case review: survival following impalement

Prehospital care of patients with penetrating wounds must begin within minutes of the injury; definitive treatments should be initiated within an hour. Due to the advanced skills of the paramedics, nurses, doctors, and ancillary personnel, this patient arrived in the operating room within an hour of his accident. Fortunately, the impaled reinforcement rods missed the vital structures within the patient's thoracic and pleural cavities and spared his lower abdominal organs, vascular structures, and skeletal structures in his groin. This case study illustrates the importance of coordinated efforts in caring for this patient from the prehospital setting through the emergency department and operating room.