Physicians under-report cases of child abuse or child maltreatment. We present a case of an impacted oesophageal foreign body in a physically abused child. S.H. is a 7-year-old male child who accidentally ingested metal clip while being assaulted by his paternal uncle whom he resides with. He presented with dysphagia, odynophagia and drooling of saliva and urgent x-ray soft tissue neck revealing the presence of the metallic foreign body in the prevertebral region. He had emergency oesophagoscopy with the removal of foreign body, did well and was discharged home 4th day postoperatively after parental counselling. It remains the responsibility of paediatric healthcare providers to consider child maltreatment as a differential diagnosis of any unexplained injury or medical problems, including oesophageal foreign body impaction.
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