Doctors at the Novosibirsk City Clinical Hospital saved a 53-year-old man who arrived with a villa-like foreign object lodged in his head, according to the health ministry’s regional press service.
The patient was brought to the hospital on November 3 with open head trauma, a brain contusion, and multiple broken ribs. He also faced lung complications. Investigators noted that he sustained several blows to the chest with an agricultural tool before being struck in the head with the foreign object.
A medical conference discussed the plan to remove the object piece by piece to reduce the risk of heavy bleeding. At the start of the operation, rescuers were summoned to cut the tool with a grinder, after which surgeons proceeded with the patient’s care.
Neurosurgeon Anton Ponomarenko described the initial steps. “The first fragment extracted passed from behind the eyeball into the orbital cavity,” he said.
The operating team then removed a second fragment. During this phase, the patient experienced a loss of about 700 milliliters of blood. Postoperative microscopic examination showed no injury to critical brain structures.
“Although the ends of the foreign body penetrated the skull to a depth of 11 centimeters, they did not damage essential brain regions. Injury to the brainstem would have carried a high risk of severe disability,” noted the regional health ministry’s statement.
The operation lasted around three and a half hours and concluded successfully. The patient remained in intensive care, with medical staff optimistic about avoiding serious long-term effects from the injury.
A separate report described a case where Rostov doctors rescued a Russian man who had both a heart stab wound and a throat cut, illustrating the broader regional focus on severe trauma care.