Delayed Primary Repair of Complex Duodenal Injury Associated to Multiorgan Failure Due to Blunt Abdominal Trauma

Duodenal injuries are rare and difficult to diagnose, with an incidence between 1 and 5% in cases of abdominal trauma. We present the case of a 30-year-old man who suffered a motorcycle collision presented with a 24-hour history of abdominal pain, peritoneal tenderness, and hemodynamic instability. Imaging studies show evidence of free fluid in the perihepatic, perisplenic, and pelvic space. An exploratory laparotomy was performed, finding a grade III duodenal, grade V jejunal, and grade II pancreatic injuries. The basis of surgical treatment being a primary anastomosis of duodenal and jejunal injuries, which allowed discharging him home 8 days after surgery and without any complications in his follow-up.

Review of Traumatic Duodenal Injuries: Etiology, Diagnosis, and Management

Traumatic duodenal injuries are rare and often challenging to diagnose and treat. Management of these injuries remains controversial and continues to evolve. Here, we performed a review of the literature and guidelines for the diagnosis and management of traumatic duodenal injuries.

A common recommendation in more recent literature is primary, tension-free repair of duodenal injuries when possible if surgical repair is necessary. Conversely, if duodenal injuries are unamenable to primary repair, more complex procedures such as Roux-en-Y duodenojejunostomy or pancreaticoduodenectomy may be necessary. Regardless of injury grade or type of surgical repair, the literature continues to support wide extraluminal drainage. Over time, the management of complex duodenal injuries has evolved to favor simple primary repair whenever possible. According to recent studies, more complex procedures are associated with higher rates of post-operative complications and should be reserved for severe injuries when primary repair is not possible.

Pediatric blunt abdominal trauma with horizontal duodenal injury in school baseball: A case report

RATIONALE

Pediatric sports injuries, including those from baseball, most often are musculoskeletal injuries and rarely include blunt abdominal injuries. Duodenal injury is rare and often associated with other organ injuries. Because it has a relatively high mortality, early recognition and timely treatment are needed. Here, we report a case of successful treatment of a pediatric patient with duodenal injury incurred in the context of school baseball.

PATIENT CONCERNS

A 13-year-old boy suffered blunt abdominal trauma and a right-hand injury caused by beating his abdomen strongly with his own right knuckle after he performed a diving catch during a baseball game. On the following day, the abdominal pain had worsened.

DIAGNOSES

Computed tomography led to a suspicion of injury to the horizontal part of the duodenum.

INTERVENTIONS

The duodenal injuries were repaired by simple closure. On the 10th post-operative day, an abscess formed in the retroperitoneal cavity because of an occult pancreatic injury. Ultrasound-guided percutaneous drainage of the cavity was performed.

OUTCOMES

The post-operative course of the abscess drainage was uneventful. The patient was discharged from our hospital on day 72 after admission and was in good health at the 9-month follow-up.

LESSONS

Regardless of the type of injury, we must assess the life-threatening conditions that can be expected based on the mechanism of the injury. In duodenal injuries, it is critical to perform surgical procedures and post-operative management based on the assumption of injuries to other organs.

Double isolated asynchronous duodenal perforation due to abdominal blunt trauma in a child: A case report

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This is the first case described in literature of a double asynchronous isolated perforation of the duodenum.

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Timing of diagnosis and treatment are described.

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Radiologic findings are provided.

Background

Isolated duodenal perforation following blunt abdominal trauma is a rare injury in children. Bicycle accidents (falling on to the handlebar) are a frequent cause of blunt abdominal trauma in children and may occasionally be associated with isolated duodenal perforation (IDP). Prompt diagnosis and surgical treatment are vital to prevent increased morbidity and mortality.

Case presentation

We report the rare case of an 11-year-old boy admitted for blunt abdominal trauma and treated for an asynchronous double IDP. The first perforation, located on the 2nd/3rd portion of the duodenum, was promptly diagnosed by contrast-enhanced abdominal CT scan after a negative US scan, five hours after injury, and the lesion repaired with a single stitch suture. The second duodenal perforation appeared in the duodenal bulb as a worsening biliary leakage, 48 h after the primary suture of the initial lesion. The perforation was initially seen by digestive endoscopy and sutured in the same way as the first lesion. A third laparotomy was needed 4 days later due to an intestinal obstruction, after which the patient was recovered completely and was discharged home.

Discussion and conclusion

IDP is a rare consequence of blunt abdominal trauma, and is normally associated with a lesion of other organs, such as the pancreas or bile duct. A delayed diagnosis strongly increases the incidence of morbidity and mortality, and different kinds of surgical management have been proposed, depending on the type of lesion. To our knowledge, this is the first case described in literature of a double isolated asynchronous duodenal perforation following blunt abdominal trauma in children.

Primary reinforcement with rectus abdominis muscle flap-a salvage technique for a tenuous post traumatic duodenal perforation- a case report

INTRODUCTION

The conventional techniques for management of complex duodenal injuries are duodenal diverticularisation, pyloric exclusion or triple tube decompression. We here present a salvage technique of primary reinforcement with pedicled rectus abdominis muscle flap (RAMF) for a tenuous post traumatic duodenal perforation (PTDP). The majority of the studies in the literature are on the use RAMF for the secondary repair of peptic duodenal perforations.

PRESENTATION OF CASE

A 38 year old male presented with an acute abdomen, three days after sustaining a blunt abdominal trauma. The clinical and radiological findings in the abdomen were subtle and not contributory. An emergency laparotomy with a high index of suspicion revealed a large perforation in the anterolateral wall of the second portion of the duodenum with a friable unhealthy wall and shearing of the serosa around the perforation site. The entire omentum was unhealthy, contused with areas of gangrene and omentectomy done. The perforation site was closed using 3.0 vicryl and reinforced with a pedicled right RAMF based on the superior epigastric artery. The patient recovered uneventfully and was discharged.

DISCUSSION

The addition of conventional diversion techniques to primary duodenorrhaphy is sophisticated, time consuming and adds morbidity.

CONCLUSION

RAMF is a good tissue substitute to buttress tenuous duodenal injuries presenting late with inflamed, friable perforation sites and associated tissue loss, where duodenorrhaphy alone may not be successful. RAMF is a valuable salvage technique when the omentum is not available and the local tissue condition negates the effectiveness of other simpler techniques.

Duodenal Rupture after Blunt Abdominal Trauma by Bicycle Handlebar: Case Report and Literature Review

Blunt abdominal trauma is most frequent in the pediatric population. Duodenal lesions after abdominal trauma in children are infrequent and tend to be secondary to traffic accidents. It is up to five times more frequent in males, with an average age between 16 and 30 years. Bicycle accidents continue to lead to morbidity and mortality in children, representing between 5% and 14% of total blunt abdominal injuries. The diagnosis of duodenal injuries after trauma is difficult and requires a high index of clinical suspicion. We present the case of a 17-year-old patient seen in the emergency room after falling off his bicycle and presented a blunt trauma in the epigastric region. On physical examination, there was a swelling in the upper right abdominal quadrant and epigastrium with tenderness on deep palpation. He presented with hematemesis without hemodynamic repercussion. A contrast abdominal computed tomography was performed and he was diagnosed with third-part duodenal rupture. A resection of the perforated third-part duodenal rupture was performed, and the transit was reconstructed using a Roux-Y duodenojejunostomy. The postoperative period was uneventful and the patient was discharged after 16 days of stay. Duodenal injury is very rare, produced by high-energy trauma. They rarely present as single lesions as other visceral lesions are usually associated. The early diagnosis is important to reduce the morbidity and mortality.

Surgical Trends in the Management of Duodenal Injury

BACKGROUND

Surgical management of traumatic duodenal injury remains challenging. While various surgical techniques have been described in the attempt to reduce complications and mortality, recent data suggests that surgical approach using less invasive procedures might be associated with improved patient outcomes. The purpose of this study was to determine the recent trend of surgical procedures performed for patients with duodenal injury and their outcome.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis of the National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB) from 2002 to 2014 was performed. A total of 2163 patients who sustained a traumatic duodenal injury requiring surgical intervention were included. Patient characteristics, injury data, procedures, and outcomes were examined. Types of duodenal procedures and patient outcomes were compared between two study periods (2002-2006 vs. 2007-2014).

RESULTS

The median age was 27 (IQR 20-39), 78.9% were male, and 63.8% sustained penetrating duodenal injury. The median injury severity score was 18 (IQR 13-26). In patients with isolated duodenal injury, the later study period (2007-2014) was significantly associated with the increased use of primary repair (OR 1.77; 95% CI 1.11-2.83, p = 0.017). Overall mortality was 11.7%. Patients in the later study group were significantly associated with lower odds of inhospital mortality (OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.22-0.95, p = 0.041).

CONCLUSIONS

A progressive trend toward less invasive procedures for duodenal injury was noted in the current study. Inhospital mortality has improved in the late study period.

Surgical Management of Abdominal Trauma: Hollow Viscus Injury

Hollow viscus injury is common with penetrating trauma to the torso and infrequent with a blunt traumatic mechanism of injury. The diagnosis in hemodynamically unstable patients is often made in the operating room. In hemodynamically stable patients, the diagnosis can be difficult due to additional injuries. Although computed tomography remains the diagnostic tool of choice in hemodynamically stable patients, it has lower reported sensitivity and specificity with hollow viscus injury. However, even short delays in diagnosis increase morbidity and mortality significantly. Operative management of stomach, duodenal, small bowel, and colon injuries is reviewed.

Isolated duodenal rupture: primary repair without diversion; is it safe? Review of literature

Isolated duodenal rupture is a rare injury encountered among children following blunt abdominal trauma. Early diagnosis and treatment are essential to decrease the associated morbidity and mortality. The debate is about the optimum operative management. We report a 6-year-old child who presented with acute abdominal pain due to isolated duodenal injury following blunt abdominal trauma. Emergency laparotomy revealed duodenal rupture at the junction of the first and second part of duodenum and absence of any other visceral injuries. The duodenal injury was defined as grade III, that is, involving 75% of the circumference. We opted to perform primary repair of the injured duodenum in two layers alone without diversion. The abdominal cavity was drained using an open system drain next to the repair. Nasogastric and jejunostomy tubes were used postoperatively for gastric decompression and enteral feeding, respectively. The child had an uneventful recovery, was discharged well on the 10th postoperative day and no stenosis was found on long-term follow-up. The debate was whether to repair the defect primarily or to combine the repair with diversion. Early diagnosis, the isolated nature of the duodenal injury and the possibility of minimal contamination favoured primary repair of the defect without diversion. The good outcome attributed to these factors were in agreement with most of the literature.

Duodenal trauma

Duodenal trauma represents a unique challenge to the surgeon due to its relative rarity, anatomic location, and often the difficulty in diagnosing and managing these injuries. Despite these challenges, significant advances have been made over the previous century, and mortality has fallen to as low as 17%. The CT scan is the primary modality for diagnosis in the blunt trauma patient, and thorough surgical exploration at laparotomy is the mainstay for penetrating injuries. Management is guided by the grade of injury, with low-grade hematomas managed by observation, intermediate grade injuries by primary repair, and high-grade injuries with a damage control surgery approach. While pyloric exclusion remains the most common technique to augment primary repair in intermediate and higher grade injuries, the utility of this procedure has come into question in current literature, and an overall ‘less-is-more’ surgical approach has been advocated in recent publications. Complications following duodenal trauma are common and include fistulae, duodenal obstruction, and infectious complications. However, the overall morbidity and mortality have improved with these injuries. Future investigation is needed to determine the optimal management approach for these challenging patients.