title: An abdominal aortic rupture due to seatbelt blunt injury: report of a case.
abstract: A 66-year-old man, who was a passenger in a car involved in a low-speed head-on motor vehicle accident, was rushed to our hospital. His abdomen was tender and distended. An enhanced computed tomography scan showed a massive retroperitoneal hematoma, and its three-dimensional imaging revealed an active leak of the contrast medium from the aortic bifurcation. He went into shock, and was immediately transferred to the operating theater. Through a median laparotomy, a ruptured site measuring 5 mm in diameter was found at the aortic bifurcation and it was closed with sutures under a proximal aortic control. The other organs showed no evidence of injury. Because of the remarkable edema of the bowel, mesentery, and retroperitoneum, the abdomen was temporarily closed with a mesh sheet to prevent the occurrence of abdominal compartment syndrome. A delayed closure was then successfully performed 4 days later, and he was discharged with no residual sequelae 17 days after the initial operation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Hyogo Prefectural Awaji Hospital, Sumoto 656-0013, Japan.
authors.forename: Takaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Omura
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kitade
authors.forename: Hideyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koyama
authors.forename: Sigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kurisu
mesh_terms: D034841:Abdominal Cavity; D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000368:Aged; D001019:Aortic Rupture / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D003161:Compartment Syndromes / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012086:Reoperation; D012622:Seat Belts / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013536:Suture Techniques; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures