In patients with cardiac injuries caused by sewing needles is the surgical approach the recommended treatment?

A best evidence topic in cardiac surgery was written according to a structured protocol. The question addressed was: 'In patients with sewing needle cardiac injuries is the surgical approach the recommended treatment?' The scientific literature was reviewed by searching Medline, using Ovid interface, from 1950 to August 2009. Six hundred and twenty-six papers were found, of which 24 were deemed relevant to this topic. The authors, journal, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes and results of these papers were tabulated. The cause of injury may delay the timing of presentation the diagnosis and consequently the therapeutic strategy. In nearly all the cases in the reviewed papers the authors surgically removed the needle from the heart. However, out of the 24 papers, four patients had a conservative treatment. Most of the authors recommend early removal of the needle to prevent migration and further anatomical damage. The early surgical removal of foreign bodies in the heart is considered an effective approach to prevent complications. The heart is more vulnerable to serious injuries when the foreign body is extracardiac than when the foreign body is completely intracardiac. The unceasing motion of the heart against the sharp point of the fixed foreign body will result in repetitive wounding with bleeding and consequent cardiac tamponade. Due to the tendency of the needle to migrate, the preoperative use of computer tomography scan, trans-thoracic and trans-oesophageal echocardiography have been advocated to locate the exact position of the needle and its correlation with the surrounding tissues. The intraoperative use of epicardial ultrasound or fluoroscopy is also recommended. However, in cases of late diagnosis, in previously untreated patients, treatment can be individualized. If the symptoms are less severe it is reasonable to adopt a conservative approach as with time most foreign bodies become safely encysted and do no harm. Patients can remain asymptomatic for many years. However, they may present many years later with complications such as pericarditis, tamponade or endocarditis. Strict follow-up is useful in those patients.