title: Diagnosis and management of small bowel and mesentery injury following blunt abdominal trauma in 12 cases.
abstract: Over four years (April 2004 to December 2008) 12 patients with blunt small bowel and mesenteric injuries were treated at three hospi-tals dealing with trauma. Ten cases were victims of traffic accidents, of whom 70% wore seat belts. There were 11 small bowel injuries (4 full-thickness & 7 seromuscular) and 9 mesenteric injuries (3 with & 6 without a de-vascularized bowel segment). All were managed initially following the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) guidelines. Emergency room ultrasound was positive for blood in 5/7 cases (71%) and CT scan in 2/4 (50%). Diagnostic peritoneal lavage (DPL) was performed in one case and was positive for blood.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo 11566, Egypt.
authors.forename: Mohamed A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Helmy
authors.forename: Aser M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Alafifi
authors.forename: Ahmed H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Ali
mesh_terms: D000007:Abdominal Injuries; D000063:Accidents, Traffic; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008643:Mesentery / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D014949:Wounds, Nonpenetrating; D055815:Young Adult