Whoa! Doctors Remove Live Explosive From Afghan Soldier's Head

Talk about having a steady hand.

US military doctors in Afghanistan -- decked out in full body armor and surrounded by a bomb squad -- surgically removed a live explosive device that had become lodged in a soldier's scalp after an attack.

The risky operation at Bagram Airfield took five hours to complete and is believed to be the first of its kind in the Afghanistan war, according to the Air Force News Service.

When the injured soldier was initially brought into the emergency room, the medical staff thought the 2.5-inch-long, unexploded ordnance was just scrap metal. But after peering at the CAT scan, Lt. Col. Anthony Terreri realized he was looking at something far from normal.

I then looked at the scout image and could see there was an air gap on one end, and what looked almost like the tip of a tube of lipstick at the end, and decided this didn't look quite right," he said.

Once they figured out they were dealing with an explosive-packed device, all unnecessary personnel were evacuated, and an explosive-ordnance disposal team was called in.

The solider has been left with traumatic brain injury.