Amputation of the Bilateral Legs due to the Lower Limbs Continuously Hanging Upside down after Becoming Trapped in a Chest of Drawers

Abstract

An 81-year-old woman was trying to reach something up high by stepping on the highest drawer of a chest of drawers. However, she fell off, and both of her both legs became trapped between the chest and the drawer. Her lower limbs and hips were stuck in an upside-down position, with her head and upper back on the floor. She was found in this awkward position by another person two days later. As the patient was hemodynamically unstable, she underwent venous infusion and bilateral tourniquets before rescue. On arrival, she was still in a shock state with hypoxia. Initially, she underwent tracheal intubation, and then the tourniquets were released one by one. She received a diagnosis of bilateral leg infections, ischemic left leg and multiple organ failure due to sepsis and unstable circulation, pulmonary embolism, and ischemic colitis with anemia. She underwent infusion of antibiotics, transfusion, noradrenaline, left lower limb amputation, renal replacement therapy, and then delayed right leg amputation. She was complicated with ischemia-reperfusion injury, ulcerative colitis and urosepsis during the hospital course, but she ultimately obtained a survival outcome after intensive care. This unique case adds another item to the list of documented etiologies of drawer-related injury and ischemia-reperfusion injury.