Tatekawa Yukihiro, Tsuzuki Yukihiro, Fukuzato Yoshimitsu
Department of Pediatric Surgery, Okinawa Prefectural Nanbu Medical Center & Children's Medical Center, 118-1 Arakawa, Haebaru-cho, Shimajiri-gun, Okinawa 901-1193, Japan.
J Surg Case Rep. 2024 Sep 3;2024(9):rjae560. doi: 10.1093/jscr/rjae560. eCollection 2024 Sep.
Traumatic injury in children often involves traffic accidents, falls from height, bicycle accidents, abuse, and sports. We present our experience with a 6-year-old girl who bruised her abdomen by falling while running with a thermos bottle hanging diagonally across her neck and left shoulder, crossing in front of her body. After the injury, she was rushed to the hospital and plain abdominal computed tomography revealed free air, suggesting intestinal injury due to blunt trauma. She was transferred to our hospital, where abdominal examination revealed a bruise and redness at the umbilicus. There were signs of peritoneal irritation and guarding throughout the abdomen. Upright chest X-ray showed free air in the right subdiaphragmatic region. Laparoscopic inspection revealed one perforation and two serosal injuries. The damaged serosa was repaired, and the perforated intestine was resected and anastomosed. The patient was discharged on the 11th day following an uneventful postoperative course.
