What are the types of abdominal trauma?
What are the types of abdominal trauma?
Abdominal injuries include severe subcutaneous haemorrhage, laceration of the abdominal wall, intra-abdominal haemorrhage, rupture of the liver, rupture of the diaphragm, perirenal haemorrhage, and puncture wounds to the stomach and intestines.
What is the most common type of abdominal trauma?
The majority of abdominal injury patients sustained blunt trauma (95%) and only 5% had penetrating injuries [Table 1]. MVCs were the most frequent mechanism of injury (61%) followed by fall from height (25%) and fall of heavy object (7%). The penetrating abdominal trauma was mainly due to stab (4.5%) wounds.
What causes abdominal trauma?
Blunt abdominal trauma usually results from motor vehicle collisions (MVCs), assaults, recreational accidents, or falls. The most commonly injured organs are the spleen, liver, retroperitoneum, small bowel, kidneys (see the image below), bladder, colorectum, diaphragm, and pancreas.
What are signs of abdominal trauma?
At the time of discharge, patients should be given written information describing signs of undiagnosed injury; increased abdominal pain or distention, nausea and/or vomiting, weakness, light-headedness, fainting or new bleeding in urine or faeces should prompt immediate return for further examination.
What are four signs and symptoms of an abdominal injury?
Symptoms and signs – Not all may be present
- history of injury to the abdominal area.
- bleeding wound or other obvious injury, possibly with visible intestines.
- severe pain and possible muscle spasm across the abdominal wall.
- nausea or vomiting.
- bruising of the skin.
What are the two most commonly injured organs in abdominal trauma?
The liver is the most commonly injured organ in blunt abdominal trauma and the second most commonly injured organ in penetrating abdominal trauma [3-6]. The liver is a highly vascular organ located in the right upper quadrant (figure 1) of the abdomen and is susceptible to injury from traumatic mechanisms.
How long does it take for abdominal trauma to heal?
Typically, patients may be discharged home after 2 to 3 days. They are instructed to restrict activity for a minimum of 6 to 8 weeks. It is not clear which asymptomatic patients require an imaging study before resuming full activity, especially when heavy lifting, contact sports, or torso trauma are likely to occur.