Penetrating Abdominal Trauma
Penetrating abdominal trauma is typically caused by a knife or bullet. Stab wounds occur 3 times as often as gunshot wounds but have a lower mortality rate because they are typically less invasive.12 With penetrating trauma, airway maintenance has highest priority, followed by hemodynamic stability using various IV fluids (crystalloids, blood, colloids) and vasopressors, if required. Early on, it is important to remove all the patient's clothing and observe for wounds. Each knife injury will have a single entrance and exit point, whereas bullet wounds may have both an entrance and exit wound (Figure 4). The presence of secondary wounds in the axilla, skin folds, legs, and chest must be ruled out.