title: Don't hang your coat here.
abstract: Report 2 cases of coat hanger floor of mouth injuries in children. We describe 2 cases of children who presented with coat hanger impalement injuries of the floor of mouth and their management. Removal under anesthesia is safe with a period of observation postoperatively. Impalement injury with coat hangers in the head and neck is a rarely encountered or described mechanism of trauma. We report the first case series of coat hanger impalement injuries in the floor of mouth in two children. Plain film radiographs may be useful to determine the depth of injury and trajectory of the foreign body. Careful removal under anesthesia is safe. Little if any floor of mouth edema was encountered postoperatively, but close observation for potential critical floor of mouth hematoma or edema should be considered.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Otolaryngology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Perelman School of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-4399, United States. chengj1@email.chop.edu
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kleinberger
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dunham
authors.forename: Peak
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Woo
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009060:Mouth Floor / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries*; D011859:Radiography; D014950:Wounds, Penetrating / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000601:surgery*