Transfixing Penetrating Trauma of the Oropharynx Caused by an Unusual Strange Body

Abstract

Objective: Oropharyngeal trauma is a common emergency in children. Our work aimed to expose a case of transfixing trauma of the oropharynx caused by an unusual foreign body and to review our behavior in the management of these traumas. Observation: The authors report a case of trauma to the oropharynx caused by a long tip of a hair straightener that occurred in a 06-year-old child. the mechanism of occurrence was a fall during play while the child was holding the tip in his mouth. The initial symptomatology was marked by endobuccal bleeding, hypersalivation, limitation of mouth opening and corticollis. The entrance orifice was located on the left anterior pillar and the penetrating end of the tip protruded subcutaneously at the level of the left retroauricular region. Enhanced head and neck computed tomography revealed a metallic, serrated density body transfixing from the oropharynx through the pre- and retrostylian spaces in contact with and below the jugular vein and internal carotid artery and terminates in position subcutaneously in the mastoid region. The preoperative hemoglobin level was 13g/dl, the coagulation assessments were normal. As the child's vaccination schedule was not up to date, we administered a dose of serum and tetanus vaccine concomitantly. The exploratory cervicotomy allowed us to extract a tip approximately 20 cm long which grazed the jugulocarotidian bundle without detectable lesions. The postoperative course was simple, healing of the wound occurred around the 10th day.