TRAUMATIC DUODENAL HEMATOMA IN CHILDREN

Over a 15-year period, 967 children presenting to Red Cross War Memori al Children's Hospital with blunt abdominal trauma included nine cases in whom traumatic intramural duodenal haematomas were diagnosed on cl inical and radiological grounds. Motor vehicle collisions were the com monest cause of injury. Review of these nine cases and their managemen t confirms the efficacy of non-operative treatment and that laparotomy should be reserved for only those children with additional intra-abdo minal injuries, or where the diagnosis remains in doubt,