Rectal impalement: a case review.

Pediatric impalement injuries to the rectum are rare, and delays in diagnosis can be life threatening. We report the case of a young girl who was accidentally impaled on a dive stick. A review of historical aspects of rectal trauma and current management techniques are discussed. Rectal injuries in the pediatric population most often result from accidental impalement, sexual abuse, or blunt trauma. In contrast, most rectal injuries in adults are caused by missile wounds. Moreover, because rectal injury is fairly uncommon in children, physicians evaluating patients may miss signs of serious injury. Signs of external trauma may be minimal when rectal perforation exists, so delays in diagnosis are not uncommon.