A PAINLESS FRACTURE TREATED IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

Abstract

Intravenous cannulation is a routine procedure done in healthcare settings to gain access to superficial veinsfor intravenous fluid, medication, and blood product administration. As a rare occurrence, part of the cannula catheter can break and be retained within a vein which may lead to disastrous complications.Here we report a case of a young male, known to be diabetic, who presented to us with a retained foreign body in his forearm causing him a lot of discomfort. On examination in the emergency department, the patient had stable vitals a long, linear, hard object could be palpated under the skin on the radial aspect of the right forearm near the elbow. On taking a detailed history, it was ascertained that the catheter of the cannula had broken during cannula removal and had been retained within the vein. After consent, a procedure under local anaesthesia was performed in the emergency department for the retrieval of the foreign body, with no post-procedure complications. The patient was discharged home in satisfactory condition the same day. This case tells us how a simple routine procedure can get complicated and how early and prompt intervention can avert possible venous embolization of broken segment and sepsis, among other complications.