Traumatic abdominal wall hernia secondary to seatbelt injury: a case successfully managed by delayed surgical mesh repair and complicated by intervening pregnancy

Traumatic abdominal wall hernia (TAWH) is a rare type of hernia occurring secondary to blunt trauma. We report a case of seatbelt-associated TAWH in a 20-year-old woman who was presented to hospital via ambulance following a road traffic collision with a distended abdomen, peritonitis and free gas, with an associated TAWH identified on CT imaging. The patient underwent delayed surgical repair of her hernia using biological mesh, without recurrence, with a clinical course complicated by pregnancy. We use this report to demonstrate late repair as a safe and effective option for management of TAWH in pregnancy, with active surveillance and a multidisciplinary approach by the obstetric, plastic surgery and trauma teams.