PATIENTS AND METHODS:
A descriptive retrospective study of all patients who had laparotomy following abdominal trauma at the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife between January 2008 and April 2013.
RESULTS:
A total of 120 patients had laparotomy following abdominal trauma. Forty- five patients comprising 41 males and 4 females whose ages ranged between 14 and 65 years had gastrointestinal injuries. Majority (68.9%) were in the third and fourth decades with penetrating injury occurring in 55.6% .Causes of injury included gunshots (44.4%), road traffic accidents (37.8%), stabs (8.9%), falls (6.7%) and impalement (2.2%). The small intestine was the commonest site of injury (57.8 %) irrespective of the mechanism. Gut perforations accounted for 71.1% of all injuries. Two-thirds of patients had other associated injuries with retroperitoneal trauma being the commonest associated intra-abdominal injury. Majority (44.4%) had bowel resection and anastomosis with surgical site infection recorded in 35.6%. Overall mortality was 6.7% and this was significantly associated with pre-operative blood transfusion (p