Managing a Stab Wound to the Abdomen: What to Do When a Knife is Stuck

In early 2025 at St. Mary’s Medical Center in San Francisco, trauma surgeon Dr. Elena Morales encountered a case that nearly slipped past modern safeguards. A 52-year-old man arrived at the emergency department with vague abdominal pain, mild confusion, and unstable vital signs. Blood tests were inconclusive. The hospital’s AI diagnostic system analyzed the data and flagged the case as non-urgent gastritis, recommending routine monitoring. The algorithm’s confidence score was high. According to