Delayed Presentations of Blunt Mesenteric and Intestinal Trauma in the Wake of Injury

Abstract

Acceleration-deceleration abdominal injury affects the terminal ileum more commonly. We propose that the ensuing clinical picture depends on the level of energy transmitted: high-energy trauma leads to extensive mesenteric and bowel tears and is diagnosed immediately. Low-energy trauma may lead to chronic ischemia, fibrosis and stricture-formation. The right colon appears to be more vulnerable to lowflow states following blunt trauma.

Post-Traumatic Long Segment Small Bowel Stricture <br/>—A Diagnostic Dilemma

“…Delays in presentation from the time of blunt abdominal trauma to the time of presentation of obstructive symptoms have been documented to be as long as 26 years in European literature [1]. It is mostly low-energy trauma which has been shown to affect small bowel leading to chronic ischemia, fibrosis and stricture-formation [2]. This study analyzes two such cases of post-traumatic small bowel pathology, with different presentations and different therapeutic challenges.…”