Abstract:
Background: Abdominal injury is among the major causes of trauma admissions. Affect
productive age group.
Objective; the aim was to determine etiology, commonly injured organs, indication and
outcome of patients with abdominal injuries requiring laparotomy.
Methods: A retrospective study of all adult patients who underwent laparotomy for
abdominal injury at Jimma Medical Center was conducted from June 2019 to May 2021..
Results: Laparotomy for abdominal injury was performed for 117 patients. Of these, 87
(75 %) case records were retrieved. Penetrating trauma was the commonest injury, stab
(n=35, 42.5%) and Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) (n=15, 17.2 %) being the leading
causes in blunt trauma. Extra-abdominal injuries were seen in 57.5 % (n=50) of the cases.
Hollow organs were commonly injured than solid organs. Small intestine (37, 49.3%) and
Spleen (21, 28%) were the leading injured organs in penetrating and blunt respectively.
The main procedure performed was repair of solid and hollow organs
laceration/perforation (34, 39.1 %). The negative laparotomy rate was 14.7% (n=13).
Complications were seen in 23(26.4%) patients, the commonest being SSI (n=11, 47.8 %).
The mortality rate was 10.5 %( n=9).
Conclusion: Stab and RTA were the commonest indications of laparotomy. The mortality
was significantly associated with blunt abdominal injury and hypotension
(SBP<90mmHg).
