Impalement injuries are rare and among the most spectacular and dramatic traumatic injuries especially of the chest. The survival of a patient with a thoracic impalement injury can be extremely rare. Herein we present and discuss our successes of the management of 7 rare cases of thoracic impalement injuries over a 5-year period from January 2014 to June 2019 at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi in Ghana. We discuss the presentation, diagnosis, treatment and outcomes of the seven cases encountered.
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