Objective: To review our experience of 18 patients with duodenal injuries a
fter blunt trauma, the diagnosis of which had been delayed for more than 24
hours.
Design: Retrospective study.
Setting: Teaching hospital, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Subjects: 18 patients who presented with duodenal injuries between January
1986 and December 1995.
Main outcome measures: Morbidity and mortality.
Results: The reasons for the delay were: injuries not found during the firs
t operation (n = 6), patients had not sought medical help (n = 6), and inju
ries treated conservatively at local hospitals (n = 5). There was one delay
in our department because the patient lost consciousness. 12 patients were
treated by pyloric exclusion with no deaths and four complications (one du
odenal fistula and 3 retroperitoneal abscesses). The other 6 had various op
erations including pancreaticoduodenectomy, jejunostomy, and gastrostomy, w
ith six complications and one death, giving an overall mortality of 6% and
morbidity of 50%. Three patients developed delayed extensive retroperitonea
l abscesses and all three were treated successfully by laparostomy. 16 of t
he 18 patients required enteral feeding through a jejunostomy.
Conclusions: Though the complication rate was high, the use of pyloric excl
usion and a feeding jejunostomy kept the mortality low. Enteral nutrition s
hould be started early. Laparostomy is a good way to manage retroperitoneal
abscesses. To avoid delay, patients at risk of duodenal injuries should be
evaluated early by experienced trauma surgeons and any central retroperito
neal haematoma should be explored during the initial laparotomy.