Citation

Titchen KE, Katz D, Martinez K, White K. Pediatrics 2016; 137(5): e2201.

Affiliation

A.I. duPont Hospital for Children, Wilmington, Delaware; and Thomas Jefferson University Hospitals, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, American Academy of Pediatrics)

DOI

10.1542/peds.2015-2201

PMID

27244785

Abstract

The topic of child sex trafficking is receiving increased attention both in the lay press and in research articles. Recently, a number of physician organizations have issued policy statements calling for the education and involvement of physicians in combating this form of "modern-day slavery." Primary care and emergency medicine physicians have led these efforts, but a number of these victims may present to surgeons. Surgeons are in a unique position to identify trafficked patients; during the process of undraping, intubation, and surgical preparation, signs of trafficking such as tattoos, scars, dental injuries, and bruising may be evident. In addition, these patients may have specific needs in terms of anesthesia and postoperative care due to substance abuse. Here, we report the case of an 18-year-old girl with a history of sexual exploitation who presents for cystadenoma excision. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a sex-trafficked pediatric patient presenting for surgery.

Copyright © 2016 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Language: en