Background introduction: Nail injuries are important causes of penetrating craniocerebral injuries. Theirs incidence is very low, but the injuries can be fatal. Since the nail gun was gradually popularized in 1959, the incidence of nail injuries has been increasing. Here we report a case of nail gun injury to superior sagittal sinus and review the literature of the past 60 years to find out what are the possible factors of nail gun injury and what are their respective ratios?
Clinical report: An 18-year-old male patient was accidentally injured in the head by the worker's nail gun, accompanied by scalp pain, no physical sensation disorder, and consciousness disorder. A computed tomography scan of his skull showed the penetrating site at the right frontal area, near the superior sagittal sinus. Seven days later, the patient underwent a successful surgery without neurological sequelae.
Discussion: Nail injuries are rare, but can be potentially fatal. We found that nail guns were the main cause of nail injuries, and other causes include occupational injury, violence, lack of supervision of young children (potential for domestic violence, and child abuse), mental illness, and suicide attempts. While paying attention to the anatomical location of trauma, clinicians should also think more about the possibility of injury so as to provide better help to patients in time.
Copyright © 2021 by Mutaz B. Habal, MD.