Penetrating Injury Due to Bicycle Brake Handle Causing Middle Cerebral Artery Infarct

Abstract

AbstractAn 8-year-old boy was brought to the emergency room with history of fall from a bicycle he was riding. On examination, he had a swelling in the left orbit with a small laceration under the medial aspect of the left eyebrow. The Glasgow coma scale was E2M5V2. An emergency computed tomographic (CT) scan showed infarct causing mass effect in the territory of the left middle cerebral artery. CT angiogram showed that a branch of the middle cerebral artery was occluded at the end of track traversed by the bicycle brake handle. The patient underwent decompressive craniectomy. Initial methylmethacrylate cranioplasty had to be removed due to infection. Later, the patient underwent titanium cranioplasty. At last follow-up, he was going to school. Hemiparesis persisted. Children are vulnerable to penetrating injury by the relatively sharp brake handle when they fall from an adult bicycle. Previous reports include fatal injury by similar mechanism. In this case, it caused injury to the middle cerebral artery without causing bleed. Bicycle manufacturers could be advised to make the vehicle safer for children by twisting the end of the brake handle.