Oral and oropharyngeal impalement injury in pediatric patients - focus on rural environment

Abstract

OBJECTIVE : This article describes a case series of oral and oropharyngeal impalement injuries in pediatric patients and highlights the peculiar etiological role of the rural environment. STUDY DESIGN : The records of nine pediatric patients who presented with oropharyngeal impalement injuries were reviewed. The patients were all from various rural areas of South Africa. The article focuses on the challenges and risk of post-impalement injury infection in the context of a rural environment. RESULTS : There were eight boys and one girl. The ages of the study participants ranged from 2 to 10 years. Object-to-head injury was the predominant etiopathogenic mechanism (six cases) compared with head-to-object injury (three cases). Six out of nine lesions were shallow. The hard palate was the single most commonly affected site. Two cases (2/9) of post-impalement injury infection were recorded. CONCLUSION : Although the risk of infection post-oropharyngeal impalement injury is reported to be low, it remains, however, a legitimate concern in cases occurring in the rural environment. The specific challenges in terms of health infrastructures in the rural environment, especially in developing countries, may have an impact on the ways oropharyngeal impalement injuries are managed.