Ambedkar Hospital Removes Bullet Lodged in Heart Through Rare Life-Saving Surgery

A bullet that entered the chest pierced the lungs and lodged in the right ventricle of the heart; Ambedkar Hospital’s Heart Surgery Department successfully removed it through open-heart surgery

Raipur, Nov 2025 : A bullet that struck the chest tore through the lungs and became embedded in the right ventricle of the heart. The Heart Surgery Department of Ambedkar Hospital successfully removed the bullet through open-heart surgery.

When the patient arrived at the hospital, his condition was extremely critical. Due to cardiac tamponade, his blood pressure had dropped dangerously low.

According to the doctors, this is possibly the first case in Chhattisgarh or Central India in which a patient survived after being shot directly in the heart.

The biggest challenge during the operation was locating the bullet that was lodged inside the heart.

The patient is steadily recovering and will be discharged from the hospital within a few days.

The Heart Surgery Team at the Advanced Cardiac Institute of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial Hospital, affiliated with Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Medical College, has achieved a new milestone by successfully performing an extremely risky and complex surgery.

A 40-year-old man from the Maharashtra border region was brought to the hospital’s trauma unit in critical condition after sustaining a gunshot wound. Under the leadership of Dr. Krishnakant Sahu, the heart surgery team removed the bullet that had penetrated the right ventricle after passing through the tricuspid valve via the right atrium—successfully saving the patient’s life in this highly complicated case.

Detailed information about the case, as shared by Dr. Krishnakant Sahu:

A 40-year-old man from near the Maharashtra border was admitted to Ambedkar Hospital’s trauma unit in a critical state. On arrival, his blood pressure had fallen drastically to 70/40 mmHg. Initial treatment in the trauma department stabilized his hemodynamics.

He was then immediately sent for a CT scan, which revealed that the bullet had entered from the back, pierced the ribs, torn through the lungs, punctured the heart, and lodged inside the right ventricle. Severe blood loss was rapidly worsening his condition. Because of the hole in the heart, blood was exerting pressure around the heart, preventing it from pumping effectively. Even after blood transfusions, the patient’s blood pressure could not improve.

This condition is known as cardiac tamponade, and the only treatment is immediate open-heart surgery to relieve the pressure on the heart.

After the CT scan, the patient’s family was briefed about the high-risk situation, and consent was taken for the possibility of “Death on Table” (D.O.T.). The patient was then rushed to the cardiac surgery operation theatre because the CT scan had confirmed the bullet’s presence inside the right ventricle.

Using a heart-lung machine, the surgical team stopped the heart, opened the right atrium, crossed the tricuspid valve, and removed the bullet embedded in the right ventricle.

Locating the bullet during surgery was extremely challenging. The 8mm × 4mm bullet had penetrated the heart muscle, and its position could not be accurately identified using Transesophageal Echocardiography (TEE). Multiple digital X-ray scans were taken until the exact position of the bullet inside the cardiac muscle was found. According to Dr. Sahu, the movable digital X-ray machine proved to be a blessing during this operation. It works like a digital camera, instantly displaying images on the screen, and uses a wireless Bluetooth-connected system.

During the operation, the team also successfully repaired the lung perforation, the main pulmonary artery, and the heart with precision.

The surgery took around four hours and required approximately seven units of blood. The patient is steadily recovering and is expected to be discharged within a day or two.