Impalement injury of the oro-pharynx with fatal consequences in a child: A case report and review of the literature

Abstract

Impalement injuries of the oropharynx are especially common in children. They may be innocuous 
injuries but can present with life threatening sequele which range from neurologic to non-neurologic 
sequele. Herein, we report the first of this type of injury from Nigeria and it was a 2 year old female child 
who presented with a rod like metallic object embedded in her oropharynx following a fall on the same 
object. She had surgical removal of the foreign object with seeming uneventful recovery but 
experienced severe hemorrhage in the 12th postoperative hour that lead to her demise. The purpose of 
this report is to highlight this type of injury even in our environment and to emphasize that a high index 
of suspicion is required in assessing the extent of injury in these patients in order to institute timely 
and appropriate treatment to avoid life threatening sequele.