title: Clinical presentation and radiographic identification of small bowel rupture following blunt trauma in children.
abstract: The incidence of significant intraabdominal injuries from blunt trauma in children is low (1-8%); however, a missed intestinal laceration may result in a devastating, if not morbid, consequence. We present retrospective case studies of eight children with intestinal lacerations following blunt trauma. Each patient has a unique anatomic defect with misleading initial laboratory and radiographic studies. We did not find a single laboratory or roentgenographic study to be consistently reliable for diagnosis of hollow viscus laceration. The combination of a high index of suspicion and serial abdominal examinations, coupled with subsequent comparative laboratory and radiographic evaluations, proved most reliable in identifying patients with intestinal injury.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, California.
authors.forename: E G
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: M O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Senac
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000293:injuries*; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012421:Rupture; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*