An impacted oesophageal foreign body in a physically abused child

Olushola Abdulrahman Afolabi, Adeyi Adogwu Adoga, Emmanuel Musa, Alfred Nicholas Bemu, Garba Mainasara Mohammed, Aliyu Mohammed Kodiya, Aminu Bakari, Babagana Mohammed Ahmad

National Ear Care Center, Kaduna, Nigeria;.

DOI: 10.4236/crcm.2013.24070                

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 4^th 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.

Keywords

Child; Maltreatment; Impacted; Oesophageal Foreign Body; Assault

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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