A clinical investigation of 148 cases of abdominal injuries treated at the Department of Surgery, Chungnam National University Hospital during the past 8 years from April, 1966 to August, 1974 was performed.
The results were as follows:
1) The sex distribution was 133 males (89.5%) and 15 females (10.2%) with ratio of 8.8; 1,
and the age distribution revealed a high incidence in 3rd and 4th decades (54. 1%).
2) The seasonal distribution showed the highest incidence in spring involving 45 cases(30%).
3) Among 148 cases;104 cases (70.3%) were non-penetrating injuries and 44 cases (29.7%) penetrating injuries. The causes of injuries, in order of decreasing frequency, were traffic accidents: 59 cases (39.9%), stab wounds: 36 cases (24.3), violence: 24 cases (16.2), falling down from height: 15 cases (10.2%) and gunshots: 6 cases (4.0%).
4) The cases who were operated within 6 hours from injury were 38 cases (28. 1%) and the majority of cases (66.6%) within 12 hours.
5) The clinical manifestations were abdominal pain (95.9%) abdominal tenderness (91.9%), rebound tenderness (76.4%), abdominal rigidity (66.2%), diminished peristalsis (55.4%), and abdominal distention (34.5%).
6) Preoperative leukocytosis were noticed in 83% of cases. Abdominal paracentesis was valuable in diagnosis of blunt abdominal trauma and 23 cases (79.3%) of 29 cases had a positive finding. Free air was present in 78.7% of hollow viscus perforation.
7) The involved intra-abdominal organ, in order of frequency, was small bowel (35.2%), kidney (11.3%), spleen (10.7%), liver (10.7%), stomach (6.2%), colon (5.7%), and mesentery (5.1%).
8) Eighty-two (55.4%) had single organ involvement, 37 cases (25%) two organ involvement and 29 cases (19.6%) had more than two organ involvement.
9) The frequently associated extra-abdominal injuries were chest injuries (15.5%), pelvic bone fractures (8.1%), and fractures of lower extremities (7.4%) in order of frequency.
10) Simple closure was possible in most cases of injuries of stomach and small intestine. In the injuries of kidney, nephrectomy was done in 12 cases and conservative treatment in 5 cases. Simple suture and drainage was done in most cases of liver injury. Splenectomy was done in all cases of spleen injury.
11) Incidence of postoperative complication was 24% (32 cases of total 135 cases) and frequent common complications were infection (21 cases, 15.5%) and pulmonary complication (9 cases, 6.6%).
12) Mortality rate was 7.4%, and main causes of death were hypovolemic shock (3 cases, 26.6%) and septicemia (3 cases, 26.6%).
13) Eighty-nine patients (60%) were discharged within 2 weeks of admission.
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