Stab wound

A stab wound is a type of wound that tears the skin by means of a sharp object. Stab wounds can be caused from anything like a corkscrew to a sword. Stab wounds are a common cause of death for many people. One or more of the following result from recieving a stab wound:

• Causes blood vessels to burst, which leads to either internal, or external bleeding.
• Causes the body's immune system to react against the foregin object, causing bodily complications, and eventually death if not removed properly and promptly.
• Causes the lungs to be torn open. When the lungs are torn open, breathing is impossible, which causes the person to suffocate.
• Causes the body's nerve system to overload the brain with pain signals, which can trigger severe shock in a person. This severe shock can cause the body to go unconcious, or could even cause the heart to go into cardiac arrest.

Table of contents

1 Stab Wounds Involving the Lungs 1.1 Severity of Lung Punctures 1.2 Reoccuring Pneumothorax and Treatment 2 Penetrating Abdominal Injury 2.1 Evaluation

Stab Wounds Involving the Lungs

Severity of Lung Punctures

A punctured lung from a medical lab. The arrow points to the wound.

Sometimes, there is a chance that a stab wound penetrates the lungs. Penetration into any vital organ poses a large threat to your health, but the lungs are one of the more severe threats to your health, if stabbed. If the lungs are stabbed, removal of the weapon or object that pierced them will automatically result in an unbalance of air volume in the lungs. Without this balance, the victim will be unable to properly breath, and could die, not because of the stab wound directly, but because of suffocation. If the wound is in the chest cavity or pleural space, the area around the lung, then the victim will suffer from what is called Pneumothorax. Pneumothorax is a condition in which air or some other gas collects in the chest or the pleural space. When a gas or air collects in the pleural space, it can cause part or all of a lung to collapse. If a victim is able to survive suffering from Pneumothorax, there is a 50% chance that a person will have a reoccuring Pneumothorax, even if there is no stab wound piercing the lungs a second time. Symptoms that a person is having a reoccuring Pneumothorax are:

• A chest pain that is made worse when the person either takes a deep breath, or coughes.
• Shortness of breath.
• Chest tightness.
• Easy fatigue.
• An increasing heart rate.
• A bluish color of the skin on the chest because of a shortage of oxygen.

Reoccuring Pneumothorax and Treatment

It is common for these symptoms to begin during sleep. It is also possible that if a reoccuring Pneumothorax happens, shock can accompany it, increasing the chance of the victim to die. Smaller Pneumothoraces have the possibility of going away on its own. Larger Pneumothoraces 'require' the removal of the extra air around the lungs or they will collapse. A chest tube will be inserted into the area around the lungs through a surgical hole made between the ribs. This process allows the lungs to re-expand and takes several days to complete (during those several days, the tube is left in place inside the ribs). The victim must remain in the hospital the entire time the tube is in place. There is no way to prevent another Pneumothorax from happening, except to not smoke to decrease the risk of one.

Penetrating Abdominal Injury

Stabbed in abdomen after arguement

The abdomen extends from the nipples to the groin crease anteriorly, and the tips of the scapulae to the gluteal skin crease inferiorly. Any penetrating injury to this area, or that may have traversed this volume, should be considered as a potential abdominal injury, and evaluated as such.
The incidence of penetrating injury will vary from hospital to hospital and region to region. Some institutions will have a very low incidence of penetrating trauma, and yet it is vital that penetrating injury is treated differently to blunt trauma. The mechanisms and physical characteristics of injury are different, as are the relevance and accuracy of investigations and the methods and timing of repair.

Evaluation

These guidelines apply only to those patients stabbed in the anterior abdomen (see anatomic boundaries in box below), who meet all three of the following criteria:

• Hemodynamically normal (i.e.. are not hypotensive, tachycardic

or diaphoretic)

• Have no evidence of peritonitis

• Have no bowel or omental evisceration through the wound

The presence of any one or more of the above mandates immediate abdominal exploration - without delay for further investigative maneuvers or x-rays.