What happens when you get shot in the stomach?
It largely depends how the bullet would traverse the inner organs in the upper abdomen:This is a transverse section of the upper abdomen just below the lowest part of your breastbone:and this is the same a bit lower down:The biggest worry would be a hole in either the biggest artery the aorta or right next to it the big vein the inferior vena cava, one can bleed to death within minutes if the surrounding tissue don't keep the blood from freely flowing out.A hole in one of the large organs with lots of blood in them e.g. the spleen and the liver, maybe one of the kidneys, would also cause a bleeding, but that usually can be treated up to some hours later.A hole in the stomach or the intestines will cause stomach acid or intestinal bacteria to contaminate the peritoneum, causing a peritonitis, a serious infection that can be fatal if not treated within half a day or so.If the pancreas was damaged it could cause a severe pancreatitis.So if one doesn't immediately bleed to death, usually surgery is indicated if the bullet's entry wound really was into the belly, since we should check all organs for tears to either repair or in acute war situations put lots of gauze to pack the bleeding locally, closing the abdomen and transferring the wounded to a better equiped hospital in the second line, there the intestines and the stomach after having been inspected for holes are to be repaired, the peritoneum irrigated to clear the contamination as much as possible, the non viable tissue removed and then either the abdominal wall is closed, or if there was too much edema the wound left open do not to elevated the intra-abdominal pressure which could be closing of the venous return through the inferior vena cava prevents the heart from getting filled with enough blood to be able to pump enough blood around (circulatory shock due to Abdominal compartment syndrome).The bullet's path can determined by ricochet against bony structures like the spine, the pelvis, higher up the ribs
When someone is stabbed in the side/lower abdomen, do they die instantly like on TV/in movies? Even if the stab wound was directly in the heart, would it kill a person in a matter of seconds?
Most stab wounds to the abdomen would not, usually, result in instant death.The cause of death in cases of stabbing is most often due to exsanguination - the loss of the majority of circulating volume.Some injuries eg an injury to the femoral artery, result in rapid and catastrophic loss of circulating volume in a very short period of time. Unless action is taken to stem the flow, this kind of injury will result in rapid collapse of the individual.A well-known case in the UK was that of Damilola Taylor - he was a 10 year old who received a stab wound to his leg. The wound damaged his femoral artery. He was able to drag himself approximately 100 m, he died in an ambulance some 30 minutes later. Cause of death - catastrophic haemorrhage.http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/...There are many documented cases of patients who have sustained stab wounds to the liver or spleen. Whilst they have become extremely unwell after massive blood loss, they have not, generally, collapsed and died instantly.Stab wounds to the heart can result in an almost immediate collapse - often due to an instantaneous interruption to the ability of the heart to beat in a co-ordinated fashion.Again, I have seen a great number of patients who have survived cardiac injuries.A good number of years ago, a male patient arrived in our department with a small stab wound to left chest. He had arrived by taxi and looked, fairly, well.Nevertheless, the decision was made to take him to the operating theatre (surgery) for a thoracotomy. The complicating factor was that, at that time, our hospital did not have the equipment to put the patient on bypass to allow the heart to be stopped whilst surgical repair was attempted.The equipment was 'on its way' from the nearby hospital.As the patient arrived in theatre, we were stopped by the orthopaedic team who had just completed an operation.'What's going on?''He has been stabbed and the cardiothoracic team are on the way, but he's getting worse!'(I was young and panicked, this man was dying now and nothing could happen)The orthopaedic register looked at the patient. 'It's ok' he said, 'I'll do it'He was South African and well used to dealing with stab wounds. By the time the cardio-thoracic team arrived with their equipment, the orthopaedic registrar had opened the chest, sutured the hole in the left ventricle (whilst the heart continued to beat) and was closing the chest.
39 weeks pregnant.. ripping/stabbing pain in cervix left side only?? mothers please help!?
Its like a short, sharp pain that feels like it is actually tearing or ripping a bit each time. its not in my pelvis, its in my cervix. have this about 6 times a night for the past 3 days. but its only in the left side. in the morning im quite wet but not sure if its urine or discharge rather than amniotic fluid coz it doesnt carry on all day. How much longer am I gonna have to be pregnant?! I know no-one knows etc but did anyone have these pains and was it dilation?xx
MDMA swollen tongue hurts really bad, should I go to the hospital?
It has been 7 days since I took the pill and I still can't eat or drink without it being extremely painful The tongue gradually became worse. My mouth seems to have a lot of saliva buildup and I also have canker sores inside my lower and upper lips. The wound on my tongue look red and inflamed and is the size of two peas. None of it seems to be healing yet but the pain isn't quit as bad and within the past two days it hasn't gotten any worse, but not any better. I'm just freaking out because of how long it has been and how I still don't see the wounds shrinking or getting better. Should I go to the ER or is it normal for it to take this long to get better? ( I drank vodka when I first felt an irritation in my tongue) could that have been what made it this bad?
What does it feel like to be shot?
It depends a) where you’re shot, b) what you’ve been shot with, and c) how you’ve been shot.I drove cab for over 25 years, and was once shot in the abdomen with a .45 snub-nose revolver. I was stabbed in various places a number of times with different implements, too, but that’s another story.It was like being punched in the gut by a huge motherfucker and having the wind knocked out of you for a solid month. There was something purplish hanging out of my belly, which turned out to be part of my liver. The bullet was a hollowpoint and had done a lot of damage- just about blew my liver out.The pain was excruciating and unbelievable. I just wanted to die and get it over with. I was told later that I was very lucky, because the bottom of my liver had been blown out but would grow back. A few inches higher, the doctors told me, and that would have been it.To make matters worse, after getting several doses of morphine, it was discovered that I was allergic. It wasn’t killing the pain, and it was giving me a red rash, making me itch all over. Whee.The doctor switched me to Demerol, and that’s about the last thing I remember from that night.The following months were a Demerol-induced haze in which people came to visit me in hospital, but I was too out of it to remember. I was hooked up to an automatic painkiller gizmo that allowed me to self-medicate up to a point.When the pain started subsiding, my belly where I’d been shot started to cramp, which led to more excruciating pain. I had a belly full of staples where I’d been opened up in order to retrieve pieces of bullet. My stomach felt really strange, and the reason turned out to be that the doctors had cut my stomach in half to get it out of the way when they were doing surgery on my liver. My gall bladder was gone, and my pancreas was a mess, resulting in diabetes.Bottom line? Don’t try this at home, kids.