A Case Study of a Patient with Penetrating Neck Injuries caused by a Nail Gun.
- Author:
Jong Soon HAN
1
;
You Dong SOHN
;
Ji Yoon AHN
;
Hee Cheol AHN
;
Hyuk Sool KWON
;
Gang Yeol SEO
;
Kwang Yun CHO
;
Seung Min PARK
Author Information
1. Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Anyang, Korea. medysohn@hallym.or.kr
- Publication Type:Case Report
- Keywords:
Neck injuries;
Nail gun
- MeSH:
Cheek;
Compressed Air;
Emergencies;
Firearms;
Fires;
Head;
Humans;
Korea;
Nails;
Neck;
Neck Injuries;
Spine;
Suicide;
Trachea;
Wood
- From:Journal of the Korean Society of Traumatology
2011;24(1):48-51
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
Powered by compressed air, a nail gun is an essential alternative tool to a hammer on any construction site. This useful machine launches nails at high speed, automatically embedding them in a piece of wood in only a fraction of a second. In spite of its convenience, life-threatening and fatal nail gun injuries can occur when a nail gun is misused, such as in a suicide attempt, or when the operator has insufficient training because combustion nail guns are capable of firing projectiles at velocities higher than 150 m per second. Although injuries by nail guns are rarely reported, there have been reports of nail gun injuries to the head and the trachea in Korea. In the emergency room, the authors experienced a patient injured by an accidental shooting of a nail gun while working in construction. In that accident, a nail penetrated the patient's cervical vertebra through the left cheek. This report is aimed at studying medical treatment for patients with penetrating injuries caused by nail guns.
