Self-Inflicted Craniofacial Impalement Injury with a Screwdriver During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Report

Authors

  • JL Jane G. Gatela, MD East Avenue Medical Center

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32412/pjohns.v36i1.1653

Keywords:

craniofacial impalement injuries, endoscopic sinus surgery, COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Objective: To present a case of a 37-year-old man presenting with craniofacial impalement injury from a screwdriver that happened during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods:

Design: Case Report

Setting: Tertiary Government Training Hospital

Patient: One

Results: During the early stages of COVID-19 pandemic a 37-year-old man was brought to the emergency room with a screwdriver embedded in his right eye. A multidisciplinary team observing available recommendations (level IV PPE, carefully planned operative directives) successfully performed endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery with application of a nasoseptal Hadad flap and abdominal fat obliteration. Aside from medial gaze limitations of the right eye, there was no CSF leak or rhinorrhea and no neurologic sequelae on follow up.

 

Conclusion: Endoscopic skull base surgery for such an impalement injury as this is a formidable multidisciplinary challenge, even in normal times. The early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic presented additional challenges. Observing evolving guidelines minimized the high risk of exposure for health care workers while maximizing care for the patient.

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Published

2021-05-30

How to Cite

1.
Gatela JJ. Self-Inflicted Craniofacial Impalement Injury with a Screwdriver During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Report. Philipp J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg [Internet]. 2021 May 30 [cited 2024 Nov. 19];36(1):41. Available from: https://pjohns.pso-hns.org/index.php/pjohns/article/view/1653

Issue

Vol. 36 No. 1 (2021): Philippine Journal of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery

Section

Case Reports

License

Copyright transfer (all authors; where the work is not protected by a copyright act e.g. US federal employment at the time of manuscript preparation, and there is no copyright of which ownership can be transferred, a separate statement is hereby submitted by each concerned author). In consideration of the action taken by the Philippine Journal of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery in reviewing and editing this manuscript, I hereby assign, transfer and convey all rights, title and interest in the work, including copyright ownership, to the Philippine Society of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Inc. (PSOHNS) in the event that this work is published by the PSOHNS. In making this assignment of ownership, I understand that all accepted manuscripts become the permanent property of the PSOHNS and may not be published elsewhere without written permission from the PSOHNS unless shared under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.