A 7-year-old Indiana girl named Olivia survived a freak blow-dart injury after the 3-inch projectile entered her nostril and lodged in bone at the base of her skull near the vertebral artery.
Her mother, a nurse, resisted the urge to pull it out, and Olivia was stabilized at a local hospital before a LifeLine transfer to Riley Children’s Health. Riley pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Laurie Ackerman coordinated a middle-of-the-night huddle with ENT and neurosurgery teams, including Dr. Matthew Partain, Dr. Mitesh Shah, and Dr. Satyan Sreenath.
Imaging showed the dart had traversed meningeal tissue and sat in spinal fluid, inches from vital structures. The team chose an endoscopic skull-base approach through the nose, working within a tight two-centimeter corridor using angled instruments to remove bone and loosen the dart without shifting it. Surgery lasted several hours and succeeded without damaging arteries or nerves.
Olivia recovered in the pediatric ICU and soon returned to school and gymnastics. Doctors emphasized never to remove any penetrating object outside a controlled surgical setting. SEO Title: Surgeons Use Endoscopic Skull-Base Procedure to Remove Blow Dart Lodged in 7-Year-Old’s Skull Meta Description:
A multidisciplinary team at Riley Children’s Health and IU Health Methodist removed a 3-inch blow dart lodged near a child’s vertebral artery using a transnasal endoscopic approach. Olivia made a full recovery and doctors urge families never to pull out impaled objects themselves.
