• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.177-180
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• 2018

Heterotopic bone formation in abdominal incisions is a recognized but uncommon sequela of abdominal surgery. On the other hand, the formation of ectopic bone is a well-recognized complication following arthroplasty of the hip. Heterotopic ossification of midline abdominal incision scars is a subtype of myositis ossificans traumatica. Ectopic bone formation of midline abdominal incisions may cause regional pain or discomfort in the patient after surgery. If symptomatic, treatment is complete excision with primary closure. Radiologically, it is important to distinguish this benign entity from postoperative complications. We report a 69-year-old male who underwent exploratory laparotomy for traumatic small bowel perforation. A segment of abnormal hard tissue was found in the abdominal wall. Heterotopic ossification may occur at various sites and is a recognized but infrequent sequela of exploratory laparotomy. This case highlights clinical and etiological features of this finding.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.135-142
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• 2006

Purpose: We planned to determine the diagnostic capability of focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) in cases of blunt abdominal injury (BAI). Methods: A retrospective analysis of FAST sheets was performed from April 2002 to December 2004. During the study period, 135 BAI patients were evaluated with FAST at the Emergency Department of Bundang CHA Hospital. Of this group, twenty-eight patients were excluded, leaving 107 patients for analysis. Abdomen CT (computerized tomography) or exploratory laparotomy confirmed the presence of hemoperitoneum. At the secondary survey, patients underwent a three-view FAST examination (LogicQ; General Electric, Waukesha, USA) by an emergency physician, followed within 2 hours by an abdomen CT or exploratory laparotomy. The FAST examination was considered positive if it demonstrated evidence of free intra-abdominal fluid. Results: There were 45 true-positive FAST examination, 57 true-negatives, 1 false-positive, and 4 false negatives (sensitivity 91.8%, specificity 98.3%, positive predictive value 97.8%, negative predictive value 93.4%). The area under the ROC curve was 0.951 for the FAST examination. Conclusion: FAST is a highly reliable method for screening patients suspected of having BAI for the presence or absence of hemoperitoneum.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.140-146
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• 2024

Purpose: Despite the high incidence of abdominal stab injuries, the rate of nontherapeutic laparotomies and the predictors of therapeutic laparotomies have rarely been studied in low-income settings. Methods: This multicenter retrospective study involved three of the largest academic medical centers in central Ethiopia. All patients who sustained an anterior abdominal stab injury and underwent exploratory laparotomy, regardless of the intraoperative findings, were included over the 3-year course of the study. Results: Of the 117 patients who underwent exploratory laparotomy, 35 patients (29.9%) underwent nontherapeutic laparotomies. Three factors predicted therapeutic laparotomy: hollow viscus evisceration (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 5.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16-28.64; P=0.032), localized and generalized peritonitis (AOR, 4.77; 95% CI, 1.90-11.93; P=0.001), and white blood cell count ≥11,500/mm³ (AOR, 2.77; 95% CI, 1.002-7.650; P=0.049). The overall positive predictive value of the therapeutic predictors was 80.2%, while the negative predictive value of all predictor-negative patients was 58.1%. The predictors would have prevented 51.4% of the nontherapeutic laparotomies. Conclusions: Close to one-third of the patients had a nontherapeutic laparotomy. The clinical predictors of therapeutic laparotomy were shown to have a high positive predictive value despite a lower negative predictive value. Further prospective studies that involve all patients who sustain anterior abdominal stab injuries are needed to potentially improve on the negative predictive value of the predictors suggested by our study.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.424-427
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• 2005

A 5-year-old Pekingese bitch was presented with a history of vaginal bleeding and copulation before 4-week. Ovarian remnant syndrome was diagnosed on the clinical changes, vaginal cytology and exploratory laparotomy. An abdominal mass was diagnosed on radiography, ultrasonography and Computed Tomography. The remnant of ovarian tissue and an abdominal mass were removed surgically under general anesthesia. Ultrasonographic examination of the removed ovarian tissue (water bath scanning) revealed three corpora lutea. The condition resolved following surgical excision of the remaining ovarian tissue and an abdominal purulent mass.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.170-173
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• 2001

Primary hepatocellular carcinomas are rare in dogs. A 12-year-old 5.4 kg female Poodle was referred to the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital with abdominal distension and mild anorexia. In this case, an extensive soft tissue mass was clearly palpable in the upper abdomen and radiography revealed a spherical mass of soft tissue density in the abdomen but its origin was not clear. In following an exploratory laparotomy, a partial hepatectomy was performed. Surgical complications were minimal. The survival time was seven months before dyspnea lead to a sudden and rapid decline.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.812-814
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• 1993

Six patients with flail chest were performed operative stabilization with Judet`s Struts.The indications of opertive stabilization were exploratory thoracotomy or laparotomy in 4 patients, and severe chest pain due to displaced ribs which deteriorated respiratory pattern and gas exchange in 2 patients. After operation, all patients became comfortable and complained less pain.Two patients restored spontaneous breathing without ventilator therapy and 2 patients were ventilated during 4 days and 5 days, respectively.There were no morbidity and mortality related to operative stabilization.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.58 no.8
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• pp.288-293
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• 2015

Purpose: In this study, we aimed to review the clinical presentation of preterm infants with gastrointestinal perforations and compare the clinical features of gastric perforation with other intestinal perforations. Methods: The medical records of preterm neonates with pneumoperitoneum, admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) between January 1994 and December 2013, were retrospectively reviewed. Results: Twenty-one preterm infants underwent exploratory laparotomy to investigate the cause of the pneumoperitoneum. The sample consisted of five patients (23.8%) with gastric perforation and 16 patients (76.2%) with intestinal perforation. No statistical differences were found in the birth history and other perinatal factors between the two groups. Underlying necrotizing enterocolitis, bilious vomiting, and paralytic ileus preceding the perforation were statistically more common in the intestinal perforation group. All preterm infants with gastric perforation survived to discharge; however, six preterm infants with intestinal perforation expired during treatment in the NICU. In the gastric perforation group, sudden pneumoperitoneum was the most common finding, and the mean age at diagnosis was $4.4{\pm}1.7days$ of life. The location and size of the perforations varied, and simple closure or partial gastrectomy was performed. Conclusion: Patients with gastric perforation did not have a common clinical finding preceding the perforation diagnosis. Although mortality in previous studies was high, all patients survived to discharge in the present study. When a preterm infant aged less than one week presents with sudden abdominal distension and pneumoperitoneum, gastric perforation should first be excluded. Prompt exploratory laparotomy will increase the survival rates of these infants.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.154-158
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• 2000

This is a case report of a 5-month-old male who was brought in to hospital for evaluation of jaundice from birth. The baby had a history of ileal atresia operated 2 days after birth. At the age of one month, Tc-99m DISIDA hepatobiliary scintigraphy was performed at other hospital and reported to show good hepatic uptake of the tracer but no uptake in the biliary tree, gall bladder, or intestine for 24 hours post injection. He was judged to have biliary atresia. However, subsequent exploratory laparotomy revealed that the hepatobiliary tree appeared intact and that there was a gall bladder. Additionally, the patient had central aorto-pulmonary shunt for the right ventricular septal defect with pulmonary stenosis of a peripheral type at the age of 4 months. The second hepatobiliary scintigraphy was performed on admission at the age of 5 months, showing a gall bladder but no intestinal uptake up to 24 hours. Retrospectively, the histological specimen of the liver obtained at the exploratory laparotomy was re-evaluated, and by the histological findings coupled with clinical data, arteriohepatic dysplasia (Alagille's syndrome) was diagnosed. In this report, we emphasize the diagnostic limitation of hepatobiliary scintigraphy and the importance of overall clinical and histologic evaluation in a case of Alagille's syndrome.

• Neonatal Medicine
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.29-35
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• 2021

Purpose: Intussusception is the most common cause of bowel obstruction in children; however, it is rarely diagnosed in newborn infants. This study aimed to describe the clinical features of intussusception in newborn infants. Methods: Medical records of eight patients diagnosed with intussusception during the newborn period at Ulsan University Hospital between March 2007 and March 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Results: Among the eight cases, two occurred in the intrauterine period and six occurred in the postnatal period. Intrauterine intussusception presented with symptoms of bowel obstruction within 1 to 2 days after birth, and ileal atresia was diagnosed simultaneously through exploratory laparotomy. All the postnatal patients were extremely low birth weight infants (median gestational age and birth weight: 25⁺⁶ weeks and 745 g, respectively). Four cases were diagnosed preoperatively using abdominal ultrasonography. One patient was diagnosed by exploratory laparotomy because the clinical symptoms were nonspecific and difficult to differentiate from those of necrotizing enterocolitis, a more prevalent complication in preterm infants. The site of intussusception in all six patients was the small bowel. Meckel's diverticulum (one case) and meconium obstruction (two cases) were found to be the lead point. Conclusion: Neonatal intussusception tends to show different clinical features according to its period of occurrence. Intussusception, especially in preterm infants, has nonspecific clinical features; therefore, clinicians should always be cautious of this disease for its early diagnosis.

• Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.291-297
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• 2019

Bowel ischemia is a life-threatening surgical emergency. We report a case of rapidly progressive bowel necrosis in a previously healthy child without proven mechanical small bowel obstruction. The definite diagnosis was established at the time of an exploratory operation. Of note, imaging studies and even a laparotomy did not reveal any evidence of acute appendicitis or mechanical obstruction such as intussusception or Meckel's diverticulum. During hospitalization, since we could not rule out surgical abdomen after inconclusive image findings, we closely followed the patient and repeated physical examinations carefully. Eventually surgical exploration was performed based on changes in clinical condition, which proved to be the right decision for the patient. We propose that in children with suspected strangulation of small bowel obstruction, especially when imaging findings do not provide a conclusive diagnosis, the timely exploratory surgical approach ought to be chosen based on carefully observed clinical findings and other evaluations.