• Eur J Trauma Emerg S · Feb 2012

    Gastrointestinal tract perforation following blunt abdominal trauma: an institution's experience.

    • K-K Tan, J Z-Y Liu, A Vijayan, and M-T Chiu.
    • TTSH-NNI Trauma Centre, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, Singapore. kerkan@gmail.com.
    • Eur J Trauma Emerg S. 2012 Feb 1;38(1):43-7.

    PurposeTraumatic perforation of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) poses numerous challenges for surgeons worldwide. We aimed to review our institution's experience and highlight the pertinent issues in managing this problem.MethodsA retrospective review was performed for all patients with perforation of the GIT following traumatic blunt injuries.ResultsTwenty-one patients, with a median age of 40 years, formed the study group, all of whom underwent surgery. Four patients were sent straight to the operating theater from the emergency department due to hemodynamic instability, while another two patients had pneumoperitoneum on their X-rays. Computed tomography (CT) scan was performed in 15 patients, with the findings of pneumoperitoneum (n = 7, 46.7%) and free fluid without solid organ injury (n = 9, 60.0%) being the most common result. The jejunum (n = 11, 52.4%) and ileum (n = 5, 23.8%) were the most common sites of perforation. Direct repair was performed in 9 (42.9%) patients, while resection of the perforated segment(s) was performed in the remaining 12 (57.1%) patients. Other associated intra-abdominal injuries included mesenteric (n = 6, 28.6%) and splenic lacerations (n = 4, 19.0%). Surgery was performed within 8 h of the accident in only 11 patients (52.4%). Some of the complications included wound infection (n = 7, 33.3%) and intra-abdominal abscesses (n = 3, 14.3%). Two patients underwent relook laparotomy after an initial damage control laparotomy.ConclusionPrompt and early surgery for traumatic gastrointestinal perforation is advised. Any abnormal CT scans warrants either surgery or close monitoring. Direct repair of the perforation is preferred, if possible.

      Pubmed     Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…

What will the 'Medical Journal of You' look like?

Start your free 21 day trial now.

We guarantee your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.