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Colon and Rectal Trauma and Rectal Foreign Bodies

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Book cover The ASCRS Textbook of Colon and Rectal Surgery

Abstract

The management of colon injuries has been one of the most controversial issues in trauma and has undergone many radical changes in the last few decades. Despite the dramatic reduction of colon-related mortality from about 60% during World War I to about 40% during World War II to about 10% during the Vietnam War and to lower than 3% in the last decade, the colon-related morbidity remains unacceptably high. The abdominal sepsis rate has remained at about 20% in most prospective studies in the last decade (Table 22-1). No other organ injury is associated with a higher septic complication rate than colon. In some subgroups of patients with colon injuries in the presence of Penetrating Abdominal Trauma Index (PATI) >25 or with multiple blood transfusions, the incidence of intraabdominal sepsis has been reported to be as high as 27%. In patients with destructive colon injuries requiring resection, the reported incidence of abdominal complications is about 24%. Many studies have attempted to identify risk factors for complications and optimize the treatment.

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Demetriades, D., Salim, A. (2007). Colon and Rectal Trauma and Rectal Foreign Bodies. In: Wolff, B.G., et al. The ASCRS Textbook of Colon and Rectal Surgery. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-36374-5_22

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-36374-5_22

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