Value of diagnostic and therapeutic laparoscopy for patients with blunt abdominal trauma: A 10-year medical center experience

Abstract

Laparoscopy has been used for the diagnosis and treatment for hemodynamically stable patients with penetrating abdominal trauma. This study evaluated whether diagnostic and therapeutic laparoscopy can be used as effectively in select patients with blunt abdominal trauma. All hemodynamically stable patients undergoing operations for blunt abdominal trauma over a 10-year period (2006–2015) at a tertiary medical center were included. Patients undergoing laparotomy were categorized as group A. Patients who underwent laparoscopy were categorized as group B. The clinical outcomes of the 2 groups were compared. There were 139 patients in group A and 126 patients in group B. Group A patients were more severely injured (mean injury severity score of 23.3 vs. 18.9, P.05). Laparoscopy is a feasible and safe tool for the diagnosis and treatment of hemodynamically stable patients with blunt abdominal trauma who require surgery.