A 19 year-old-male presented with three nails being hammered into his head. The patient
had no neurological deficits at the time of presentation. Computed tomography (CT)
of the brain showed the nails to have penetrated both tables of the skull. All of
these metallic foreign bodies were extracted surgically. One of these nails, noted
in the midline, was bent at its shaft and lay in the epidural space. The other two
nails lying parasagittally had penetrated into the brain parenchyma of the frontal
lobes. There was no intraparenchymal hemorrhage noted in relation to the tracts of
the nails. The patient had an uneventful postoperative recovery. The relevant literature
related to this unusual case is reviewed.
Keywords
craniocerebral injury - nails - penetrating injury
