Intra-abdominal insertion of sewing needles: a rare method of child abuse

The insertion of sewing needles into the abdominal cavity is an uncommon form of child abuse. We report a 2-and-a-half-year-old boy with 2 intra-abdominal sewing needles that were discovered during the evaluation of chronic abdominal pain and vomiting. This case report illustrates the wide range with which abusive injury can present in children. Pediatricians need to be alerted to this newly-recognized and the increasing form of child abuse so that they examine and diagnose their patients appropriately.