GUNSHOT INJURIES OF THE ABDOMINAL-AORTA - A CONTINUING CHALLENGE

This is a retrospective study of 57 patients with gunshot injuries of the abdominal aorta. The aortic repair was achieved by various means: lateral aortorraphy, patch aortoplasty and graft insertion. There was an 85 per cent mortality rate from bleeding or secondary coagulopathy directly related to the aortic injuries. The need for resuscitative th oracotomy, shock, lack of response to fluid resuscitation and intraper itoneal bleeding were directly related to mortality. We feel that shor tening of prehospital transfer time will increase the absolute number of patients surviving this grave injury. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd .