Minerva chirurgica
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37 cases of penetrating abdominal wounds, 10 stab wounds and 27 gunshot wounds, have been examined. They are part of a total of 1856 emergency surgery operations carried out consecutively over a period of 30 months; they therefore represent 2%. The series consisted of 31 men and 6 women; average age was 31. ⋯ Mortality rate was very high (21.62%): one case of the stab wounds and seven of the gunshot wounds. In spite of the considerable overall seriousness 3 cases, 1 stab and 2 gunshot wounds, did not present visceral lesions. This leads us to agree with numerous authors who maintain that a penetrating abdominal wound is not an absolute indication for surgery but requires, like blunt abdominal injuries, individual surgical evaluation, and in some cases conservative management.
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Twelve cases of peritonitis due to sigmoid diverticulitis managed by minimal surgery are reported. Morbidity involved two cases of stenosing sigmoiditis on which sigmoid resection was successfully carried out. Although it is considered that radical surgery is the optimal solution, it is also recalled that the prime objective is to cure the peritonitis, so each case must be assessed carefully on its own merits since the condition is a complication of a benign disease and the risk of emergency sigmoid resections is by no means negligible.