American journal of surgery
-
In a 2 year period, 237 patients presented with stab wounds to the lower chest and anterior abdomen. Ninety-six patients were discharged from the emergency room after negative findings on wound exploration. There were no apparent missed injuries but two wound infections in this group for an overall morbidity of 2.1 percent. ⋯ Seventy-seven required emergency laparatomy because of hemodynamic signs of blood loss or peritonitis. Sixty-four patients whose only indication for laparotomy was penetration of the anterior abdominal wall fascia by local wound exploration underwent peritoneal lavage before laparotomy. If 50,000 red blood cells/mm3 in the lavage fluid had been used to select patients for observation, the incidence of negative laparotomy would have been reduced from 58 to 3.2 percent, and only one significant visceral injury would have been missed.
-
Experience with 37 patients with adult colovesical fistula over the past 19 years is reviewed. Specific guidelines for treatment of adult colovesical fistula are influenced by the location and cause of the fistula, the patient's general condition, the presence of a pelvic abscess and the presence of colonic obstruction. ⋯ In patients with colovesical fistula due to cancer, the extent of tumor should be carefully evaluated and resection carried out whenever possible. Colovesical fistulas due to trauma, inflammatory bowel disease and iatrogenic causes are often unusual in location; thus treatment must be individualized.