The Pattern of Abdominal Trauma in Ramadi city: An Experience of 74 Cases

Abstract

Background: The abdomen is the third part of the body subjected to trauma. Abdominal trauma (AT) is divided into penetrating and blunt injuries, which differ in their distribution according to geographical areas. Early management can reduce its high morbidity and mortality rate. Objectives: To evaluate the socio-clinical, operative findings, complications, and fatality rate of subjects with AT. Patients and methods: Patients with isolated AT admitted to the emergency unit in the Al-Ramadi Teaching Hospital, Ramadi City, Iraq, and subjected to exploratory laparotomy were enrolled in the study. The study covered a period of 9 months (June 2019 to February 2020). Demographic, clinical, operative findings, and the outcomes were registered and analyzed for all patients. Results: At our hospital, 1119 patients were presented to the casualty with trauma during the study period, 74 (6.6%) of them with AT. Most of the patients were in the age group 18-30 years (50%) and the males formed 90.5% of the cases. Around 90% of the subjects were with penetrating AT, with gunshot (79.7%) being the commonest cause. Around 80% of the patients were presented within 1-12 hours following the trauma. There were 3 or more injured organs (58.1%) found during the operations. The small bowel (38/66) was the most injured organ in penetrating injury, while the liver (6/8) was the most traumatized organ in blunt trauma. The fatality rate showed a statistically significant effect with the age of the patients, time of presentation, mean systolic blood pressure, and hospitalization period (P-value ,0.05). Conclusion: AT showed a prevalence of 6.6%. Penetrating AT outnumbers the blunt injury. The mortality rate was 20.3%. Factors such as the youngest age group, a long time elapsed following trauma, lower mean systolic blood pressure, and long hospitalization period have increased the death rate.