title: Blunt gastric injury. A multicentre experience.
abstract: A multicentre retrospective analysis of blunt gastric injuries from four trauma centres in Brazil was performed. From January 1982 to May 1996, 33 patients were found to have blunt gastric injury: 26 were male and the mean age was 26.2 years. The most frequent mechanism of injury was automobile versus pedestrian (17) followed by motor vehicle accidents (seven). Abdominal pain was the most common finding (29) and peritoneal signs were present in 14. There were 21 grade I, seven grade II, four grade III and one grade IV blunt gastric injuries. Simple suture was the treatment of choice in 24 patients, eight required no treatment, and only one patient underwent gastric resection. The liver and spleen were the most commonly associated injured organs. Two patients had isolated gastric injury. There were two gastric fistulae and both patients died. Overall morbidity and mortality was 12 (36%) and nine (27%), respectively. The ISS was higher in the non-survivor group (P=0.03) and the gastric organ injury score did not reach statistical significance when comparing survivors and non-survivors. We conclude that blunt gastric injury is uncommon and is associated with other injuries of greater magnitude, which generally influence mortality.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Service, Department of Surgery, Santa Casa School of Medicine, São Paulo, Brazil. vbruscagin@uol.com.br
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bruscagin
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Coimbra
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rasslan
authors.forename: W L
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Abrantes
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Neto
authors.forename: R R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Dalcin
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Drumond
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Ribas
mesh_terms: D000007:Abdominal Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D017052:Hospital Mortality; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009104:Multiple Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013270:Stomach / Q000293:injuries*; D013537:Sutures; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery