Suppose someone gets a knife planted in his neck. If the knife punctured his lung and large airways, how long was the blade of the knife? I don’t know which part of the neck was stabbed. Being a layperson, I don’t even know, technically, where the neck begins and ends. But just assume the knife entered the neck at the place most convenient to hit a lung and large airways.
I’m back to lurking and I had to write this question down somewhere, so it landed here on my blog. No one should feel obligated to answer. But it would be nice to know whether it was a long knife, short knife, impossible to determine from the facts. . .
18 comments:
This is a comprehensive article. Scroll all the way down to Picture 2 and you will see that even a short-blade knife might injure both the trachea and the lung. The neck goes all the way down to the collarbones.
Depends where in the neck you were hit and how fat you are. (One of the few situations where you might be thankful that you are fat -- although it would be harder for us to treat you). The trachea is pretty superficial, as is the superior portion of the lungs right above the collar bone, where I have seen collapsed lungs from acupunture needles .
Thanks. I didn’t want to sound like a psycho asking this on someone else’s blog. After I read the post, I tried doing a little research on it but quickly gave up.
I was expecting it to require a much longer blade. Still not sure why it piqued my interest. At least now I know the zones of the neck in case I come across it again.
Anonymous, are you calling me fat? Thanks for the comment. Again, I'm not sure why I am finding a stab wound to the neck so interesting.
Anonymous, I'm detecting a pattern here re: your visits. Am I wrong?
Thank you for your comment when you visited my blog!
medblog addict,
I am the above anon. NO, I was not insinuating that you were fat. "You" was generic for anyone who would get stabbed in the neck.
Stab wounds to the neck are usually interesting because the usual story is "I was minding my own business walking to church when two dudes came up and jumped me" Upon further interogation the victim will be on parole, tattooed with gang affiliation, have a blood alcohol level over 200 and a drug screen positive for at least two others.
Love the blog.
Thanks for your kind comments on my blog. I also love your blog!...:)
Charity Doc has some pictures up of stab wounds.
I was gonna answer this, but it looks covered. So - on our off topic sub-theme, all this talk of code brings out the luddite in me,(viz. I'm not sure I'd know how to use it) so I'll say thanks, but guess I'll stay put.
But more importantly Happy New Year, and all that stuff.
Slainte
Happy new year to you too! :) I'm glad you decided to keep blogging!
Hi M.A. - off topic but, GREY'S ANATOMY TONIGHT - NEW! :)
I'm so behind on Grey's. I think I have 4 episodes to watch. I tried to leave a comment on your site, but it still won't let me. The Apprentice is about to start. We'll have to check in on Angry Medic's site next week to see what he has to say about it. I don't know when I will ever catch up with GA.
Well, I was wrong. They are both repeats tonight. Drats!
Why won't it let you post a comment since it did in the past? My neighbor said the same thing. Try posting anonymously but I.D. yourself. Maybe Dr.Keagirl knows because I had that problem SIX times and didn't know it took ALL six times. :) She fixed it. I notice that my SeaSpray pic doesn't go up on all comments on other posts. I confess to being technically challenged but hope to be a computer nerd some day. :)
Can't wait for the apprentice!
Well MA, whaddya waiting for? Grey's is on Christmas break. Perfect time to grab all those missed episodes and start watching.
And yes, my adrenaline's going through the roof waiting for The Apprentice--I'm also planning something special on the blog to accompany it! :)
Never thought medblogs would find me another Apprentice fan.
Oh one more thing. Since you're a lawyer and all...
My big mouth recently got me into a rather prickly situation regarding a letter I wrote to the local paper. A fellow med student tells me there's some law out there that prohibits medical students from expressing their opinions on medical issues. Is there really such a law, and if there is, what are its boundaries?
Muchas gracias compadre.
I'll just have to dig through my stash of photos and blog on a stab wound to the neck one of these days. However, I just took care of a gun shot wound to the neck and posted some xrays, in case you're interested. Too busy right now to finish the story but noticed how I thought of you right away.
Funny how I'm a fan of a fan of medblogs.
Thanks Charity Doc. Nice xrays. Being a non-medical type, visual aids really help. I'm a big fan of yours. But I think you probably already know that.
Angry, I hate to do this, but the firm requires it, and since they pay for my mal insurance... I am not your lawyer, you have not retained me nor the firm that employs me to represent you in any legal matter. This is not legal advice.
Having said that. I wish I could help you but I just don't know the answer, especially considering where you live, attend school, etc. I don't think I would even be able to answer your question with respect to the laws of the state where I am licensed, without doing some research. Sorry I can't be more helpful. I don't even know who I could refer you to. And I am really sorry for having to put that snotty disclaimer at the beginning.
I can't wait to see your something special re: the Apprentice.
The author of medblog-groupie.blogspot.com has written an excellent article. You have made your point and there is not much to argue about. It is like the following universal truth that you can not argue with: Just because you put kittens in the oven...it doesn't make them biscuits. Thanks for the info.
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