Surgical management of abdominal wounds at the LCH/Cameroon

The author reports the results of a study on penetrating abdominal wounds seen from 01 December 2014 to 30 April 2015 in the general surgery department of LAQUINTINIE Hospital in Douala, with the aim of highlighting diagnostic and therapeutic problems. This is a prospective study of 37 cases of APP collected in 5 months. For each case, the following were noted: age and sex, circumstances and agent of the aggression, topography of the entry point, elements of the diagnosis of penetration, treatment and its consequences. Most of the injured were male (89.2%) and aged between 20 and 40 years (62.1%). The causal agent was a knife in 94.6% of cases. The intra-abdominal injury was clinically evident in 54.5% of cases. Firearm wounds more frequently resulted in multivisceral injuries. Given the human and material resources, the attitude is selective abstentionism. A rate of 16.2% of white laparotomy was found but remains high compared to the objectives of the promoters (less than 10%). Morbidity and mortality were respectively 7% and 8.1%.