Ulises Torres, MD, Abraham Jaffe, BA. University of Massachusetts Medical School
Objective of the technology:Blunt abdominal trauma resulting in hollow viscus injury is a rare but serious occurrence that has a high rate of mortality. Diagnostic laparoscopy has been shown to be an effective tool in trauma cases involving suspected abdominal injury. The therapeutic benefit of laparoscopy for abdominal trauma is beginning to be recognized more but successful cases of laparoscopic treatment for blunt abdominal trauma causing large bowel injuries are scarce. Blunt abdominal trauma causing major disruption of the mesocolon is usually not handled laparoscopically but as we demonstrate here, is a safe procedure with improved outcomes using this technology.Description of the technology and method of its use or application:We demonstrate the laparoscopic steps used in an emergency laparoscopic diagnostic exploration and complete laparoscopic Hartmann’s procedure after blunt abdominal trauma causing colonic injury with bleeding, followed by complete successful laparoscopic reversal.Preliminary results if available:Few case studies exist on the benefits of therapeutic laparoscopy in trauma cases. We report a method of performing laparoscopic trauma surgery for blunt traumatic injury to the colon and show that this approach can be a safe and feasible option in cases where the patient is hemodynamically stable, but with signs of peritonitis, and evidence of colonic injury from imaging.Conclusions/Future directions: Therapeutic laparoscopy can be a feasible and safe option for repairing injuries to the colon resulting from blunt abdominal trauma. We present one successful technique of how to deal with this serious occurrence.
Session: Emerging Technology Poster
Program Number: ETP068
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