Blunt abdominal trauma patients presenting to a tertiary care facility of Pakistan: A three years' experience

Abstract

Blunt abdominal trauma (BAT) refers to injuries without wounds entering the peritoneal cavity due to road traffic accidents (RTA) and falls, as a result of collision or counter collision. The objective of the present study was to determine the frequency of patients with visceral injuries in blunt abdominal trauma. This study was carried out in the Department of Surgery, including ward-3 of Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre, Karachi, from November 2017 till November 2020. The study design was descriptive case series. During the study period, the data of 112 patients was collected, which comprised of 102 males and 10 females. All the patients between 12 to 65 years of age (mean age:31.84±13.14 years) presenting to the emergency with < 24 hours of abdominal trauma, were included in the study. Organs involved during blunt abdominal trauma were observed and frequency was recorded. Liver injuries were found in 48(42.28%) patients, intestinal injuries in 40(35.7%), splenic injuries in 32(28.5%), kidney injuries in 24(21.4%), pancreatic injuries in 8(7.1%) and stomach injuries in 4(3.5%) patients. Grade 4 liver injury was found in 80(71%) patients, Grade 2 and 3 splenic injuries in 56(50%) patients whereas 47(42%) patients had grade 1 kidney injury. Liver was found to be the most frequent organ involved, followed by intestine and spleen.

Keywords: Blunt Trauma, Pakistan, Abdominal Viscera..