Abstract
Physicians under-report cases of child abuse or child maltreatment. We present a case of an impacted oesophageal foreign body in a physically abused child. S.H. is a 7-year-old male child who accidentally ingested metal clip while being assaulted by his paternal uncle whom he resides with. He presented with dysphagia, odynophagia and drooling of saliva and urgent x-ray soft tissue neck revealing the presence of the metallic foreign body in the prevertebral region. He had emergency oesophagoscopy with the removal of foreign body, did well and was discharged home 4th day postoperatively after parental counselling. It remains the responsibility of paediatric healthcare providers to consider child maltreatment as a differential diagnosis of any unexplained injury or medical problems, including oesophageal foreign body impaction.
Highlights
INTRODUCTION*Competing interest: The authors declare that they have no competing interest. Author’s contribution: AOA was the principal surgeon, perform literature search and prepare the manuscript
Physicians under-report cases of child abuse or child
We present a case of oesophageal foreign body impaction in a physically abused child after a written informed consent was obtained from the patient’s parents for publication to sensitize the paediatric healthcare giver to include child abuse in the differential of any unexplained injury or medical problem, including impacted oesophageal foreign bodies
Summary
*Competing interest: The authors declare that they have no competing interest. Author’s contribution: AOA was the principal surgeon, perform literature search and prepare the manuscript. ME snapped accompanying images, literature search and assisted in post operative management of the patient. BAN assisted in the surgery, literature search and post operative management of the patient. MGM assisted in the surgery, literature search and post operative management of the patient. These medical errors may result in continued abuse, leading to potentially severe consequences [1]. These maltreatments include all forms of physical and emotional ill-treatment, sexual abuse, neglect, and exploitation that result in actual or potential harm to the child’s health, development or dignity [2]. Ingestion of foreign body is relatively common in the aero-digestive tract among children. We present a case of oesophageal foreign body impaction in a physically abused child after a written informed consent was obtained from the patient’s parents for publication to sensitize the paediatric healthcare giver to include child abuse in the differential of any unexplained injury or medical problem, including impacted oesophageal foreign bodies
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