Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Blunt abdominal traumas are common. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 49 patients with blunt abdominal trauma who underwent surgery at the General Hospital of National Reference of N'Djamena, Chad over a period of 5 years. Epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic parameters of patients were studied. RESULTS: The study included 42 men and 7 women, mean age 21.3 years. The causes of blunt abdominal traumas were: road traffic accidents in 61.2% of cases; wall collapses (14.3%); assaults (8.2%). Blunt abdominal traumas were more frequent in August (14.28%) and October (16.32%). The waiting time for admission in hospital was 6-12h in 43% of cases. At discharge, wounded patients used private car in 85.7% of cases. Clinically, patients were often hemodynamically stable (55.1%). Medical imaging was dominated by direct radiography of the abdomen (57.1%). The most observed lesions were those located only in the small intestine (16.32%) or related to that of the bladder (8.16%) and spleen (2.04%). Laparotomy was negative in 6.12% of cases. Morbidity (12.2%) was dominated by abdominal wall abscess. Mortality rate was 6.1%. CONCLUSION: Road traffic accidents are the leading cause of blunt abdominal traumas. It is important to minimize delays in diagnosis, and treatment. Road safety measures should be implemented to prevent accidents.