Partial bowel obstruction in a 2-month-old child. A delayed diagnosis of anal abuse

Abstract We present the case of an anal sexual abuse involving a 2-month-old boy, who was admitted to the Pediatric Surgery Unit of the University of Padua for low bowel obstruction. The infant had been already hospitalized for 3 days in a peripheral hospital and treated with daily rectal wash-outs...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Forensic science international 2009-11, Vol.192 (1), p.e7-e9
Main Authors: Aprile, Anna, Cesca, Eleonora, Cecchetto, Giovanni, Viel, Guido, Mognato, Guendalina, Gamba, Piergiorgio
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anal Canal
Anal sexual abuse
Child abuse
Child Abuse, Sexual - diagnosis
Clinical forensic medicine
Delayed Diagnosis
Endoscopy, Digestive System
Foreign Bodies - diagnosis
Foreign Bodies - surgery
Forensic Medicine
Forensic radiology
Forensic sciences
Humans
Infant
Infant sexual abuse
Intestinal Obstruction - etiology
Intestinal Obstruction - pathology
Intestinal Obstruction - surgery
Male
Pathology
Rectal Diseases - etiology
Rectal Diseases - pathology
Rectal Diseases - surgery
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Summary:Abstract We present the case of an anal sexual abuse involving a 2-month-old boy, who was admitted to the Pediatric Surgery Unit of the University of Padua for low bowel obstruction. The infant had been already hospitalized for 3 days in a peripheral hospital and treated with daily rectal wash-outs for a fecaloma. Only after a careful interpretation of the plain abdominal radiograph, along with the performance of a rectoscopy and a laparotomy, a vegetable foreign body (about 3 cm in diameter and 7 cm in length) was discovered in the sigma. The morphology and dimensions of the foreign body, as well as its location, left no doubt about the etiology of the partial bowel obstruction, proving that it was clearly related to an anal sexual abuse.
ISSN:0379-0738
1872-6283
DOI:10.1016/j.forsciint.2009.08.017