[Isolated injuries of the small intestine following blunt abdominal injuries]

Operations were performed on 327 patients for blunt abdominal trauma at the casualty ward of the Istanbul University Hospital, over the past three years. Isolated injuries to small intestines were recorded by laparotomy from 22 of these cases. Peritoneal lavage was applied to 18 patients. Only one patient was operated on with 24-hour delay because of false negative result of lavage. Six of the above 22 patients died (27.2 per cent) despite early surgical action. Five of these six had been admitted to the casualty ward with hypovolaemic shock as well as head and extremity injuries after a traffic accident.