An unusual impalement injury to knee

Abstract

Impalement injuries are one of the severe types of injuries combining effects of both penetrating and blunt trauma leading to crushing injury, wound contamination, and multi-organ damage. These types of injuries are usually a result of falls from a height, vehicular accidents, and slip with strong external force. A 12-year-old boy was involved in a road traffic accident where an auto-rickshaw toppled. A loose rusted iron frame penetrated through his left knee and lower thigh. The impaled rod was removed under direct vision and the fractured lateral femoral condyle was fixed under general anesthesia. Impalement injuries require a multidisciplinary approach. The management of each case has to be individualized. Extensive wound exposure, extraction under direct vision, adequate debridement, and antibiotic coverage are pearls of management.

Keywords

• impalement
• penetrating
• knee