Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the laparoscopic repair of isolated intestinal injuries in children who sustain focal abdominal trauma.
Methods: A retrospective review was conducted of all patients 16 years and younger who required surgery for traumatic bowel injuries during a 5-year period at 2 university children's hospitals. The study population was composed of hemodynamically stable patients who sustained focal energy transfer to the abdomen and were diagnosed preoperatively with intestinal injury. Children sustaining multisystem injuries and gunshot wounds or who were hemodynamically unstable were excluded.
Results: Fifty hemodynamically stable children were explored for preoperatively documented intestinal injury sustained after focal abdominal trauma. Laparoscopy was used to repair intracorporeally gastrointestinal injuries in 8 children. Mean operating time, time to diet, and time to discharge after laparoscopic bowel repair compared favorably with patients managed by laparotomy. An additional 6 patients had a laparoscopic-assisted bowel resection or repair after exteriorization only of the ruptured intestine through a short extension of the nearest port site. No early (missed injury, wound infection, bleeding) or late (obstruction) complications resulted after laparoscopic repair.
Conclusions: Laparoscopic primary or assisted repair of injured bowel is an appropriate surgical option in hemodynamically stable children who sustain focal abdominal trauma and may be associated with a more prompt return of intestinal function and shorter hospital stay.