A 44-year-old man from Tanzania sought medical care after his right nipple began leaking pus<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
An X-ray revealed a knife lodged in his chest from an attack eight years earlier<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
Researchers were able to remove the knife and highlighted the need for imaging and follow-up treatment in low-resource areas<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
A 44-year-old man sought medical care when his right nipple began leaking pus \u2014 and doctors discovered he still had a knife stuck in his chest from an attack eight years earlier.<\/p>\n
The man, whose identity has not been disclosed, hails from Tanzania, and sought medical care when he noticed his right nipple was leaking pus, according to a case report<\/a>, which noted he was \u201cotherwise healthy\u201d without any \u201cchest pain, difficulty breathing, cough or fever.\u201d<\/p>\n The patient shared that eight years ago he\u2019d been \u201cinvolved in a violent altercation\u201d during which he sustained \u201cmultiple cuts to his face, back, chest and abdomen.\u201d At the time, he received surface-level first aid to close the cuts, and given the limited resources in his area, he was not referred for an X-ray<\/a> or any further scans.<\/p>\n Getty<\/p>\n Stock image of an X-ray machine.<\/p>\n \u201cHe had an uneventful course over the next eight years until his current presentation,\u201d the researchers wrote, describing his emergency as \u201cdischarging foul-smelling pus with surrounding induration\u201d right underneath his right nipple.<\/p>\n An X-ray showed \u201ca retained metallic object\u201d \u2014 a knife \u2014 inside his chest. It had entered through his scapula (shoulder bone) and was surrounded by \u201cpus and necrotic tissue,\u201d the case report said.<\/p>\n Doctors immediately performed surgery, removing the knife. The man was well enough to be discharged after 10 days. However, researchers noted that \u201cwhile this patient recovered well after surgery, there was a considerable risk that the retained knife could lead to a fatal outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n In this case, the patient\u2019s body was able to \u201cencapsulate the foreign body within a fibrous capsule, limiting inflammation and tissue damage,\u201d but as his pus-leaking nipple showed, he was beginning to exhibit \u201cserious complications.\u201d<\/p>\n Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for\u00a0PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a>\u00a0to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/strong><\/p>\n Researchers highlighted how this case \u201cunderscores the significant challenges in trauma care within resource-limited settings, where access to basic imaging<\/a> and surgical expertise is limited\u201d \u2014\u00a0even when it\u2019s direly needed: \u201cThis case illustrates the urgent need for increased awareness and improved protocols for trauma management safe surgery and safe [anesthesia] in low-resource setting.”<\/p>\n![\"Getty](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/8ed9c8ee2c75c1aa4b30decba6ea793d.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n