Curious Case Vault #3 - A Non-Fatal 19th Century Gunshot Wound to the Head

The Poor Historians: Medical History Misadventures

This episode of the Curious Case Vault has an admittedly grim premise--a patient who suffered two gunshot wounds to the head. In this discussion, Alba leads us through a case of a young Brooklyn, NY man who, in the spring of 1888, sustained what could have been a devastating injury in any time in history.
In his case, we'll see how the neurosurgeon of the time treated this patient leading to an amazing if not inspiring outcome. We'll talk about the evolution of this type of neurosurgical trauma care and form an appreciation for the resilience of the human brain to trauma of this sort.
Case Link:
This case comes to us from the archives of the Brooklyn Medical Journal and Retrospect of the Medical Sciences. Vol 1_1888 (Jan-Jun): 476-477.
Sources:
Modern Neurosurgical Overview for Gunshot Wounds to the Head from the AANS.
Historic Overview of Neurosurgical Treatments for this injury at the turn of the 19th century available via this article by Agarwalla, et al.

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