ABSTRACT
Introduction In patients having emergency abdominal surgery for trauma, the presence of urologic injury tends to increase mortality and morbidity. Methods This retrospective study evaluated patients requiring emergency surgery for abdominal trauma at a Level 1 Trauma Center over 30 years (1980-2010). Special attention was given to patients with concomitant genitourinary (GU) injuries. Results Of 1105 patients requiring an emergency laparotomy for trauma, 242 (22%) had urologic injuries including kidney 178 (16%), ureter 47 (4%), and bladder 46 (4%). Of the 242 patients, 50 (20%) died early (<48 hours) and 13 (5%) died later, primarily due to infection. A concept of "seven deadly signs" of hypoperfusion was developed. In patients with GU injuries, the presence of any deadly sign of hypoperfusion increased the mortality rate from 4% (6/152) to 63% (56/90), p<0.001. Of the 53 patients having a nephrectomy, 36 (68%) had one or more deadly signs and 27 (75%) died. Of 17 without deadly signs, only 2 (12%) died (p=0.001). Of 167 GU patients receiving blood, 59 (35%) developed infection vs 3/75(4%) in those receiving no blood (p<0.001). Conclusions The presence of deadly signs of severe injury and hypoperfusion on admission was the major factor determining mortality. With a severely injured kidney plus any deadly signs of hypoperfusion, special efforts should be made to avoid a nephrectomy.
ABSTRACT
Lateral abdominal wall hernias may occur after a variety of procedures, including anterior spine exposure, urologic procedures, ostomy closures, or after trauma. Anatomically, these hernias are challenging and require a complete understanding of abdominal wall, interparietal and retroperitoneal, anatomy for successful repair. Mesh placement requires extensive dissection of often unfamiliar planes, and its fixation is difficult. We report our experience with open mesh repair of lateral abdominal wall hernias. A retrospective review of a prospectively maintained database was performed to identify patients with a classification of lateral abdominal wall hernia who underwent an open repair. A total of 61 patients underwent open lateral hernia repairs. Mean patient age was 58 years (range 25-78), with a mean body mass index of 32 kg/m(2) (range 19.0-59.1). According to the European Hernia Society classification, defects were located subcostal (L1, 14 patients), flank (L2, 33 patients), iliac (L3, 11 patients), and lumber (L4, 3 patients). Mean defect size was 78.6 cm(2), with a mean greatest single dimension of 9.2 cm (range 2-25 cm). Retromuscular or interparietal repair was performed in 50.8 per cent, preperitoneal in 41.0 per cent, intraperitoneal in 6.6 per cent, and onlay in 1.6 per cent. The rate of surgical site occurrence was 49.2 per cent, primarily seroma and surgical site infection rate was 13.1 per cent. With a mean follow-up of 15.4 months, seven patients (11.5%) have documented recurrence. Synthetic mesh reconstruction of lateral wall hernias is challenging. Our experience demonstrates the safety and success of repair using synthetic mesh primarily in the retromuscular, interparietal, or preperitoneal planes.
