Arrow shot injuries are fairly common during harvesting period in northern Nigeria as a result of clashes between cattle rearers and farmers, whose farms are located close to the grazing areas demarcated by states in northern Nigeria.The federal medical center Nguru is the only tertiary referral center in Yobe state and the neighboring communities. Accidental arrow shot injuries among nomads are rare. This report presents a 15 year – old boy who was accidentally shot in the neck with an arrow by a nomadic youth while playing. He was promptly referred to a tertiary centre where the arrow was successfully removed. Introduction Arrow shot injuries are fairly common during harvesting period in northern Nigeria as a result of clashes between cattle rearers and farmers, whose farms are located close to the grazing areas demarcated by states in northern Nigeria.The federal medical center Nguru is the only tertiary referral center in Yobe state and the neighboring communities.Accidental arrow shot injuries among nomads are rare. This report presents a 15 year – old boy who was accidentally shot in the neck with an arrow by a nomadic youth while playing. He was promptly referred to a tertiary centre where the arrow was successfully removed. Case Report A 15 year- old nomadic boy was hit by an arrow that was shot randomly by some nomadic youths in a suburb of Gashua, in Bade Local Government area, Yobe State, Nigeria, while celebrating one of their annual festivals. The arrow was impacted on the right side of the neck with profuse bleeding which was controlled with pressure packs at the village health centre. He was then referred to federal medical centre (FMC) Nguru, where he presented with impacted arrow on the right side of the neck, with difficulty and pain on swallowing, but no difficulty in breathing, the voice was muffled. No loss of consciousness, No weakness of the limbs. Examination revealed a conscious young boy mildly pale afebrile to touch (Temp 37°C) respiratory rate of 22 beats/minutes and blood pressure of 110/75 mmHg.An arrow was impacted on the right side of the neck (Fig1and 2) about midway between mastoid antrum and munubrium sterni, with marked tenderness at the point of entry and subcutaneous emphysema. His chest was clinically clear, Abdominal and central nervous system examinations were essentially normal. Antero-posterior and lateral X-ray of the soft tissue of the neck showed a long metallic foreign body in the neck traversing the right side of the neck at the level of the larynx and third cervical vertebra (fig3 and 4) complete blood count revealed a packed cell volume of 35% and other parameters are within normal limits, blood chemistry were within normal limits.
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