The farmer's wife and the salmon fork: a near miss for the median nerve.

Summary This case history illustrates how a farmer's wife accidentally impaled her forearm on a salmon fork with barbs. Despite the fact that the barbs were not obvious to the rescuing firemen, they had the good sense to transfer the patient with the fork in situ and well supported to prevent traction injury. Any effort to remove the fork at the time of injury would have resulted in complete division of the median nerve.