Preserving bowel continuity, gold standard of bowel injury treatment: Study

France: Primary repair of intestinal injuries should be the preferred approach in trauma patients, independent of the site of the damage (small bowel or colon). Stoma formation is a significant contributor to postoperative morbidity, which should be balanced against the danger of an intestinal suture or anastomosis, according to research published in the journal BMC Surgery on 8th September 2021.

The treatment of severe bowel injuries is difficult. Although anastomotic or suture leak is still a concern, maintaining intestinal integrity is becoming the preferred technique. The purpose of this research which was conducted by Camille Tantardini and the team was to assess the consequences of such an approach.

Between 2007 and 2017, all patients included received surgery for intestinal traumatic injuries at a high-volume trauma hospital. The postoperative course for abdominal problems, morbidity, and death was examined. The overall severity of the trauma was assessed in two ways: hemodynamic status at the time of admission (patients with a systolic blood pressure less than 90 mmHg or on vasopressors were considered unstable), and severity scores such as the Injury Severity Score (ISS) and the New Injury Severity Score (NISS).