Uncommon rectal impalement injury with an unexpected intraabdominal trauma

Rectal penetrating injuries are a very rare and potentially lethal form of trauma in children. We report the case of a rectal impalement injury (RII) in a 3-year-old female patient after an almost unbelievable accident at home. Laparotomy revealed a traumatic rectal wall perforation. Initially, we had a high suspicion of child abuse.