COVID19 Swab Test Caused Brain Fluid Leak In US Woman, Punctured Woman’s Brain Lining

The woman is about 40 years old. After the swab test in the hospital, she felt severe pain in her nose and fluid started flowing from her nose. After investigation, it was found that the outer walls of his skull were damaged by the needle used in the swab test. Due to which brain fluid started leaking from her nose. Situation of women is improving now. But if her treatment was not done at the right time, then there could have been a life-threatening infection in her brain.

Taking lessons from this case, hospitals need to teach their staff the process of this test in a better way. People should be tested only by professionals. Health care professionals should keep in mind the past health history of patients and accordingly the protocols of the Covid test should be changed. Especially for patients who have undergone Skull related surgery or who have a Sinus problem.

Dennis Kraus – ear, nose and throat specialist of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York said, “It underscores the necessity of adequate training of those performing the test and the need for vigilance after the test has been performed.”

Walsh, who practices at the University of Iowa Hospital, said the woman had gone for a nasal test ahead of an elective hernia surgery, and afterward noticed clear fluid coming out of one side of her nose. “She had been swabbed previously for another procedure, same side, no problems at all. She feels like maybe the second swab was not using the best technique, and that the entry was a little bit high,” he said.

In the past, the woman was treated for intracranial hypertension which means the pressure from cerebrospinal fluid that protects and nourishes the brain was too high. Doctors at the time used a shunt to drain some of the fluid and the condition resolved. But it caused her to develop what’s called an encephalocele, or a defect at the base of the skull which made the brain’s lining protrude into the nose where it was susceptible to rupture.

This medical condition of the woman went unnoticed until old scans were reviewed by her new doctors, who carried out surgery to repair the defect in July. She has since fully recovered. Walsh said he believes the symptoms she developed were a result of irritation to the lining of the brain.

As per the medical professionals, if the problem hadn’t been treated on time, she could have developed a potentially life-threatening brain infection from bacteria that traveled up the nose or air could have entered the skull and placed excess pressure on the brain.