Full title: A 44-year-old man went to the hospital after pus began oozing from his chest, where doctors discovered a knife that had been embedded in his body for eight years. According to the report, he showed no signs of chest pain, breathing problems, coughing, or fever, and was otherwise in good health.
A 44-year-old male Tanzanian presented to our facility with a 10-day history of pus discharge below the right nipple. He denied any chest pain, difficulty breathing, cough, or fever. The patient recalled being involved in a violent altercation 8 years ago, during which he sustained multiple cuts to his face, back, chest, and abdomen. Following the incident, he sought first aid at a primary health facility, where his wounds were sutured; however, no radiological investigation was conducted at that time as hemostasis was achieved, despite of no suspicious of foreign body retention in part injured, there was no facilities for radiological investigations. He had an uneventful course over the next 8 years until his current presentation.
Lucky they didn’t go straight for the MRI
I have worked so much with lathes and milling machines, that I fear having to have an MRI.
I bet I’m full of small bits of sharp metal. In fact, I have a macro photo of my finger full of tiny needles.
If you get scheduled for an MRI they will specifically ask if you have worked as a machinist. If you answer yes, they make you go to a location that can take x-rays before letting you in the MRI machine.
At least, that’s what happened when I had to schedule an MRI.
I don’t want to argue, but that’s not universally true at all.
I have had many MRI procedures over the years, at almost as many individual locations and in multiple countries. This was never a question.
I was asked. There was a 10 minute phone interview to ask all the ways I might have metal in me. The tech was apologetic and said they have to ask individually because people forget or don’t know things can put them at risk.
Permanent makeup and micro bladed brows, for instance won’t rip out of your body but older inks with iron in will heat up and burn your skin.
I’m in California, if that matters.
I wonder if this rather specific question about being a machinist is particularly a US phenomenon.
I’ve only ever been asked if I have the typicals. “Any metallic items on or in your body such as piercings, jewelry, surgical implants?”
The questions never pertained to occupation, let alone being a machinist or involved with metalwork.
Perhaps the question is geared to cover as many bases as possible to reduce the legal attack surface for a malpractice lawsuit. The US is a notoriously litigant landscape when it comes to personal injury.
They asked me of I had welded or done metalwork. I had my head X-ray to make sure there wasn’t any metal in my eyes.
I’ve had metal in them before so it ease worth checking and they definitely asked first.
I imagine, I too would be familiar with medical intake processes if I farted glitter.
Surprisingly, this is not on the list of questions!
I’m a nurse who has been filling out the the MRI pre screening form a few times a month for a long time in multiple US states and I’ve never seen one that didn’t mention metal work and shrapnel.
Skin pushes small things out, but if you get one of the really strong 80lb neodymium magnets and mount it on a wall you can test if there’s anything there buried.
why don’t they have metal detectors on the doors leading to the MRI?
My guess? They’re not sensitive enough for small bits, but could still lead to staff complacency.
i think small bits like tattoos are just painful, but there should be one for the bigger items that always ends up in the news, like the guy who brought in a gun
Possibly because a standard magnetometer cannot detect reactive elements down to the level that would be affected by a giant insane field associated with an MRI?
A simple xray, or a pass-through of a single metal detector at a court house is one thing….
Basically tattooing itself can be a very wild scenario. I caught artists in Tunisia making do and had a friend shooting cats in Cuba as we provided ink.
Because medical drama shows need the unexpected surprise moment
That’s an excellent question. I guess they never thought of it?
That was a wild read. I audibly chuckled when they put forward a reference after stating that getting stabbed in the chest can lead to death
Could you imagine being the person who stabbed him and just watching him walk away and not even react?
Plus he stole your knife!
They were so intrigued by the experience of cutting into someone and seeing them live through the event that they turned away from a life of crime and went to school to become a surgeon. Now, 8 years later, a familiar face shows up in the waiting room…
Dibs on the movie rights
Just give me a cut.
Hang on, I should rephrase that.
Yeah, you should take another stab at it.
clarence you stabby bastard fuck off
Some rapier wits around here, any way you slice it.
Probably very very drunk and didn’t remember anything.
I’m gonna guess alcohol was involved in the initial event.
Also, imagine being the radiologist and seeing that pop up on the screen. I’m imagining the doctor in Death Becomes Her, although that reference might be too old for many of you.
Death Becomes Her had a well received broadway musical last year, lots of new fans. Unrelated to the xray
Where’s the article?
Link to article in spoiler. This is your warning, graphic images are embedded in the paper (wound with draining pus and photos from surgery).
Kivuyo, Nashivai et al. “An eight-year asymptomatic retention of a knife blade in the chest: a case report”, Journal of surgical case reports vol. 2025,6 rjaf325. 31 May. 2025, doi:10.1093/jscr/rjaf325
The CT scan and its reconstruction are wild.
From the surgery image, which I won’t repost, I wonder if the handle broke off before/during the attack, or if it was broken down in the thoracic cavity?
Must have been a fall no? I don’t know how someone could push a knife that deep without firmly gripping the handle. And if your hand is on the handle it’s a natural stop.
The article says a stabbing. I struggle to imagine it too, but maybe a fall while it was still protruding, like you say.
A 44-year-old male, otherwise healthy, presented with a right chest wall sinus discharging pus, 8 years after sustaining multiple stab wounds treated with primary first aid only.
Yeah, that sums up my question. Sliced, then stabbed and then a fall, or a cheap knife handle that let go once the attacker tried to pull it out.
The lack of imaging, even an x-ray is surprising, but I don’t live in Tazmania so I don’t know their level of access to such things. Or how willing the patient would have been to sit still for it.
The paper identifies availability of imaging tech and trained personnel as one of the issues in its discussion section.
The current case report underscores the significant challenges in trauma care within resource-limited settings, where access to basic imaging and surgical expertise is limited.
[…]
In areas with limited resources, patients should be promptly referred to higher-level healthcare facilities capable of providing comprehensive diagnostic and surgical care.I just keep thinking about what would happen if they fell on somebody or got into one of those awful “crowd crush” situations. Wouldn’t take long for medical personnel to figure it out (at least in broad strokes) but I’m picturing a phantom stabbing mystery where they just find his body with a protruding blade that finally worked itself loose and finished the job from nearly a decade prior. Either that or the pointy bit is forced out the front and gets somebody else.
I wonder if whoever owns the rights to the Final Destination movies takes suggestions.
That is not a small knife. What a crazy story. Thanks for the link.
Thank you, this is a wild case study
Wow, is there an article to read more about this? This is insane!
Incredible! Had to see it to believe it.
