Hypothetical medical question

[Ingulit]

I figure some people here must have a medical background here. I'm writing a story in which I want a character to have a bullet stuck somewhere in his body from being shot a long time ago. My question is: is there anywhere on the body that a person can be shot and it be completely safe if the bullet stayed where it lodged?

 

[Mr.Freeman]

I think somewhere in the hip, though they'll probably need a cane.

There really is nowhere else to be shot at and not die from the wounds as far as I can tell.

 

[GoldShadow]

It depends on a lot of things. Many people are shot and survive; a bullet is not (in most cases) an instant death sentence. It depends on the location, caliber (size) of the bullet, type of bullet (hollow point, etc), type of gun, distance, fragmentation, whether or not they received medical attention and if so, the type of treatment, etc.

The obvious ones are hands and feet and limbs. Head, if it grazed the skull and didn't penetrate; even if it did penetrate into the brain, it depends on which part; people have been shot through the head and survived. Neck and shoulders (though obviously not through the center of the neck), chest and back (unless it hits the heart or lungs, which would make survival much less likely); a shot to the abdomen is likely to do a lot of damage to central internal organs and makes survival less likely. Hips bleed a lot and you'd be less likely to survive if shot there.

But even then, there are exceptions and cases of survival for bullets lodged in places you'd think would be fatal.

Plenty of stories abound of people with parts of bullets lodged in their skull (http://english.aljazeera.net/sport/2010/01/2010126144035208933.html), brain (http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Neurol...ffering-with-dizziness--headaches/show/518262), head (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...t-bullet-lodged-in-teenagers-head-429626.html), cheek (http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=7382298), hip (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...discover-bullet-lodged-hip-past-65-years.html), thigh (http://guardian.co.tt/news/crime/2010/01/21/bullet-lodged-thigh), lung (http://www.cantonrep.com/stark/canton/x313369628/Bullet-to-remain-lodged-in-7-year-olds-lung), etc.

Some of these can be dangerous, other times not.

Remember that when a bullet goes into something (including a person), it doesn't stay in one piece. It breaks up and fragments. So when you hear about bullets being lodged inside somebody, it's not the whole thing, but a small piece of it.

So to answer your question, anywhere, really.

 

[Ingulit]

Remember that when a bullet goes into something (including a person), it doesn't stay in one piece. It breaks up and fragments. So when you hear about bullets being lodged inside somebody, it's not the whole thing, but a small piece of it.

Thank you for such a detailed response, especially the quoted part. This is going to help a lot

 

[Pikaville]

I was going to say hands or feet.But both are kinda boring places to be shot.

Plus GoldShadow has it covered......as usual.

Good work dude.

What's the general story of the book if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Ingulit]

What's the general story of the book if you don't mind me asking?

I wouldn't mind sharing, but it would take a looooong time to explain. It's a science-oriented fantasy, and the bullet is sort of an enabler for one of the characters. I just needed to know if having him having a bullet in him is realistic or not ("the hardest thing about fantasy is that it has to sound realistic").

 

[cutter]

It's perfectly realistic to be shot, have the bullet stuck in your body, and be perfectly fine. GoldShadow pretty much took the words right out of my mouth with that excellent description.

Your body will eventually grow around the bullet fragments where the entrance wound was and heal itself like normal.

 

[gm jack]

So long as it doesn't damage any major organs, it should be fine. IIRC, President Garfield only died because doctors were trying to find the bullet by poking around with unsterilised fingers, and if they had left him alone, it would probably have been fine.

 

[Mota]

I've heard of scissors and other surgical instruments accidental left inside people after surgery, and they survived.

 

[Sraigux]

I don't know why your character wouldn't take it out. Also I'm pretty sure he would die of lead poisoning if he left in in.

 

[jugfingers]

as someone with a lot of metal screws and stuff in my body, I can tell you that being lodged in a bone is probably the safest option.


also make it a gold bullet.


that way maybe your character will feel a bit better about being shot, and he won't die of lead poisoning.


or how about he got shot at a vertical angle into one of his teeth and it now he has like a solid gold bullet filling in one of his teeth.

 

[GoldShadow]

Actually, although rare cases of lead poisoning due to bullets have been reported, usually lead poisoning isn't an issue with lodged bullets. According to this study, bullets stuck in joints are more likely to cause this than bullets lodged somewhere else.

"Lead intoxication (plumbism) from retained bullets has rarely been reported but may be fatal if unrecognized. Bullets lodged within joint spaces or pseudocysts are more likely to develop this complication..."

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1352636/

 

[Near²]

I definitely agree on making the bullet golden. Just in case...

or how about he got shot at a vertical angle into one of his teeth and it now he has like a solid gold bullet filling in one of his teeth.

hahahaha