A 62-year-old man visited our hospital emergency room with dizziness and diaphoresis. He received an acupuncture treatment on the subxyphoid area (lower 2 cm and left 1 cm point from the lower xyphoid process border) directly an hour ago because of facial numbness. He had a history of cerebral infarction and permanent atrial fibrillation on warfarinization (2 mg warfarin per day). Surprisingly, the acupuncture needle () was still sticking into his substernum. The initial vital signs were blood pressure of 80/50 mm Hg and heart rate of 110 beats/min. We instantly removed the needle, but he went into cardiac arrest and was rescued within 10 minutes after cardiopulmonary resuscitation. At that time his prothrombin time international normalized ratio was 1.99, therefore, we administered 2 pints of fresh frozen plasma and 5 mg of vitamin K. The transthoracic echocardiography revealed pericardial effusion with early diastolic collapse of the right ventricle. We performed emergent pericardiocentesis using a subcostal approach. After drainage of 500 mL of sanguineous effusion, the patient stabilized hemodynamically. Two hours later, however, the drainage of pericardial effusion persisted up to the total amount of 1000 mL, and the cardiac arrest redeveloped. After resuscitation, an emergent operation was performed under cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB). A median sternotomy allowed visualization of huge hematomas over right atrium and ventricle (). After we evacuated the hematomas, a pumping of acute marginal branch of the right coronary artery was identified. The vessel was torn into pieces, and it was ligated with 4-0 Prolene suture, thereby leading to termination of bleeding (). The aortic cross clamp time was 25 minutes and CPB time was 45 minutes. Thereafter, the patient showed hemodynamically stable vital signs and uneventful condition. Finally he was discharged without any complications.
A 50-year-old male presented at the General Surgery Polyclinic due to increased complaints of swelling and intermittent pain in the neck which had been ongoing for 6 years. On the neck ultrasound imaging, heterogeneous nodules were observed in the parenchyma of 27 × 19 mm in the right lobe and 20 × 16 mm in the left lobe and central anechoic cystic nodules 40 × 18 mm at the isthmus level extending towards the lumen. Thyroid function tests were normal and the patient was diagnosed with multinodular goitre. The patient had no comorbid disease and after premedication was admitted to the operating room for elective surgery. Monitorization was applied on the operating table: TA: 130/85 mmHg, pulse: 75 bpm, SpO2: 99%. Sedation was administered by 2 mg midazolam, then anaesthesia induction was made with 2-3 mg/kg propofol, 100 mcg fentanyl, and 0.6 mg/kg rocuronium. After mask ventilation for 3-5 mins, the patient was intubated with no problems. No hemodynamic or respiratory problems were experienced in the intraoperative period. The surgery lasted 1 hr and 45 mins, after which the patient was awakened with no problems and was transferred to the postoperative anaesthesia care unit (PACU). When the patient was fully awake, he was experiencing chest pain and complained that dentures were not in place in his mouth, so a posterior-anterior pulmonary radiograph was taken and a standing direct abdominal radiograph. The dentures were observed in the stomach (). In the history taken from the patient, it was seen that when going to the operating room, partial fixed dentures were in place, and he stated they were in his mouth until reaching the operating room. The emergency gastroenterologist was consulted, and the patient was evaluated but as he had already eaten food, endoscopy procedures were postponed until the following day. In the upper gastrointestinal endoscopy applied the following day, despite having passed the ligament of Treitz, the dentures could not be visualized. On the standing direct abdominal radiograph, the dentures were seen to be in the jejunum (). The abdominal examination was comfortable for the patient, so it was decided to continue medical follow-up. A standing direct abdominal radiograph was taken daily (), and on the radiograph taken on the 5th day, the dentures could not be seen (). The patient was questioned. The dentures had been expelled during bowel evacuation, but the patient did not recall anything other than a slight pain during evacuation.