Traumatic Neck Injury: An Accidental Impalement by a Needlefish
Aishath Azna Ali, MBBS, DrGenSurg1; Rajan Gurung, MBBS, MS1; Firdaus Hayati, MD, DrGenSurg2;
Andee Dzulkarnaen Zakaria, MD, MMed (Surgery)3; Irfan Mohamad, MD, MMed (ORL-HNS)4;
Fui Fui Ching, PhD5
A 20-y-old Maldivian male presented to a tertiary care
center 4 h after being impaled by a needlefish while
snorkeling in the evening. The patient had sustained a
penetrating injury to the right side of the neck (Figure 1)
with local swelling and ecchymosis. On presentation, he
was hemodynamically stable with a pulse of 75
beats·min-1 and blood pressure of 120/70 mm Hg. There
was no evidence of vascular injury, such as pulsatile
bleeding, arterial thrill, or rapidly expanding hematoma.
