title: Rectum perforation after broomstick impalement in a 17-year-old: case report and review.
abstract: Impalement injuries are uncommon, especially in the pediatric population. Because of the rarity of these injuries, physicians may have difficulty recognizing and treating impalement injuries appropriately. Clinical findings are sometimes innocuous, but can be life threatening. Therefore, evaluation of suspected impalement injury should involve careful history and thorough physical examination, even if there is no evidence of trauma to the perineum. We report a very rare case of rectum perforation after transanal introduction of a broomstick with almost no clinical findings. Impalement injuries are difficult to recognize, and severity may not be reflected by their external appearance. To diagnose these injuries in time, it is important to use a well-organized workup.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, University Children's Hospital Altona, UKE-Medical School, Hamburg, Germany. michboettcher@gmail.com
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boettcher
authors.forename: Ilias
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kanellos-Becker
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wenke
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Krebs
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007416:Intestinal Perforation / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D012007:Rectum / Q000293:injuries*; D014950:Wounds, Penetrating / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery