Traumatismo penetrante facial por arpón: a propósito de un caso

Penetrating injuries caused by firing an underwater speargun are exteremely rare. The surgical treatment is determined by the «barb mechanism», which hinders the safe withdrawal of the spear in the opposite direction to its entrance, since the fin of the spear could cause serious injury. We present a clinical case and a simple system of blocking the backward movement of the fin which allowed the safe withdrawal in the retrograde direction.