Bullet Removal

[Andrew J Bowman]

I was reading some of the recent postings at trauma.org website.

There was one posting about the retro-aortic bullet that was left in place.

Is there ever a concern about eventual erosion of the bullet into the nearby
vascular structures?

I had a patient in my past who had suffered a GSW in his youth. He presented
to my ER late at night with abdominal pain and hypotension. CT showed
massive hemoperitoneum.

OR showed that bullet had eroded into the IVC.

Thanks,

Andrew Bowman