• Supreet Kaur, Dinesh Bagaria, Abhinav Kumar, Pratyusha Priyadarshini, Narendra Choudhary, Sushma Sagar, Amit Gupta, Biplap Mishra, Mohit Joshi, Atin Kumar, Shivanand Gamanagatti, Kapil Dev Soni, Richa Aggarwal, Sreenivas Vishnubhatla, and Subodh Kumar.
• Division of Trauma Surgery and Critical Care, JPN Apex Trauma Center, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Delhi, 110029, India.
• Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg. 2023 Feb 1; 49 (1): 1101-10.

PurposePenetrating abdominal trauma was traditionally managed by mandatory exploration, which led to high rates of non-therapeutic surgery and prolonged hospital stay. Diagnostic laparoscopy (DL) is a less-invasive alternative; however, it requires general anaesthesia and carries a potential risk of iatrogenic injuries. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography (CECT)-guided selective non-operative management (SNOM) may avoid surgery altogether, but there is apprehension of missed injury. Randomised trials comparing these two modalities are lacking. This study is aimed at comparing outcomes of these two management approaches.MethodsHemodynamically stable patients with penetrating trauma to anterior abdominal wall were randomised in 1:1 ratio to DL or CECT-based management. Primary outcome was length of hospital stay (LOS). Secondary outcomes were rate of non-therapeutic surgery, complications, and length of intensive care unit (ICU) stay.ResultsThere were 52 patients in DL group and 54 patients in CECT group. Mean LOS was comparable (3 vs 3.5 days; p = 0.423). Rate of non-therapeutic surgery was significantly lower in CECT group (65.4 vs 17.4%, p = 0.0001). Rate of complications and length of ICU stay were similar. Selective non-operative management based on CECT findings was successful in 93.8% of patients; 2 patients had delayed surgery.ConclusionIn patients with penetrating trauma to anterior abdominal wall, DL and CECT-based management led to comparable hospital stay. Significant reduction in non-therapeutic surgery could be achieved using a CECT-based approach.Trial RegistrationClinical trials registry-India (CTRI/2019/04/018721, REF/2019/01/023400).© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.

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