Blunt abdominal trauma: current management

Abstract

Management of blunt abdominal trauma has evolved over the last decade and non-operative management (NOM), initially viewed with scepticism, has now become widely used. The aim of this retrospective study was to examine the results of liberal utilisation of NOM of blunt abdominal trauma. For that purpose we examined the charts of 119 patients admitted to our Department of Surgery from January 1998 to July 2006 for blunt abdominal trauma. NOM was opted for in cases of haemodynamic stability. When surgery was mandatory, it consisted in exploratory laparotomy or laparoscopy. Six of the NOM patients (7%) needed surgical exploration during the 24 hours following the trauma. Thus, the success rate for NOM was 93%. Mean length of hospital stay was 12.5 days (range: 2-78); for emergency surgery patients it was 17 days (range: 2-78), and for NOM patients 14.5 days (range: 2-45). In conclusion, NOM may be safely used in cases of blunt abdominal trauma. Haemodynamic instability, suspicion of hollow viscus perforation and multiple transfusions are contraindications to this approach.