Outcomes of non-operative management of penetrating abdominal trauma.

Background: Selective non-operative management (SNOM) of penetrating abdominal trauma (PAT) is routinely practised in our trauma centre. This study aims to report the outcomes of patients who have failed SNOM.

Methods: Patients presenting with PAT from 1 May 2015 - 31 January 2018 were reviewed. They were categorised into immediate laparotomy and delayed operative management (DOM) groups. Outcomes compared were postoperative complications, length of hospital stay and mortality.

Results: A total of 944 patients with PAT were reviewed. After excluding 100 patients undergoing damage control surgery, 402 (47.6%) and 542 (52.4%) were managed non-operatively and operatively, respectively. In the SNOM cohort, 359 (89.3%) were managed successfully without laparotomy. Thirty-seven (86.0%) patients in the DOM group had a therapeutic laparotomy, and six (14.0%) had an unnecessary laparotomy. Nine (20.9%) patients in the DOM group developed complications. The DOM group had lesser complications. However, the two groups had no difference in hospital length of stay (LOS). There was no mortality in the non-operative management (NOM) group.

Conclusion: In this study, we demonstrated no mortality and less morbidity in the DOM group when appropriately selected compared to the immediate laparotomy group. This supports the selective NOM approach for PAT in high volume trauma centres.