Jael's syndrome: Case report and literature review

INTRODUCTION AND IMPORTANCE: Jael's syndrome, an intentional injury caused by a knife in the face or skull is a rare encounter in clinical and forensic practice, rarely involving an impacted knife. Clinical and radiographic diagnosis is essential to identify severity of injury and location of the retained knife. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported novel case of Jael's syndrome in Tanzania. CASE PRESENTATION: We present the case of a 31-year old man admitted at Muhimbili National Hospital following an impacted knife. The stab wound extended to the medial wall of left orbit and ended just before the optic foramen associated with vitreous hemorrhage and the retained knife caused superoposterior displacement of the globe. Multidisciplinary management was instituted including prompt evaluation, imaging and surgical removal of the knife under general anesthesia. CLINICAL DISCUSSION: Plain skull X-ray revealed an extensive retained blade and computerized tomography (CT) showed the tip of the blade adjacent to the right styloid process with no neurovascular compromise. Initial concern was the left eye that was reported to be viable by ophthalmologists. Incredibly, the patient had no initial sequelae from such an extensive injury and had unremarkable recovery with no complications apart from the wound to left inferior rectus muscle that was conservatively managed. Simple withdrawal of the retained knife was successful. CONCLUSION: Craniofacial retained knives are rare. Thorough prompt initial evaluation and intervention is vital since improper management can be devastating.