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Closed abdominal trauma in a child causing avulsion of the common bile duct and gastric stasis
Injury
|January 1, 1985
Insights
Blunt abdominal trauma can cause rare injuries like complete common bile duct transection and gastric stasis. Surgical intervention restored bile flow and gastric emptying, suggesting a traumatic vagotomy.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric surgery
- Trauma surgery
- Gastroenterology
Background:
- Blunt abdominal trauma is a significant cause of pediatric injury.
- Common bile duct injuries are rare complications of abdominal trauma.
- Gastric stasis following trauma is not well-documented.
Observation:
- An 8-year-old boy sustained complete transection of the supraduodenal common bile duct due to closed abdominal trauma.
- The patient also experienced significant gastric stasis, leading to failure of gastric emptying.
Findings:
- Surgical management successfully re-established biliary-enteric continuity.
- Gastric drainage was performed to address the gastric stasis.
- A traumatic vagotomy is postulated as the cause of gastric emptying failure.
Implications:
- This case highlights a previously unreported complication of blunt abdominal injury.
- It underscores the importance of considering vagal nerve injury in traumatic gastric stasis.
- Management strategies involve both biliary reconstruction and gastric decompression.
Abstract:
A case of closed abdominal trauma causing complete transection of the supraduodenal common bile duct and gastric stasis in an 8-year-old boy is described. Surgical management involved re-establishment of biliary-enteric continuity and later gastric drainage to overcome gastric stasis. It is postulated that this child had sustained a traumatic vagotomy resulting in failure of gastric emptying. The literature does not report this complication of blunt abdominal injury.