Introduction:

Trauma is an important cause of mortality worldwide and the fourth cause of death in Colombia. This condition generates morbidity and disability, having a substantial impact on the years of life potentially lost, especially in the younger ages where it is more prevalent.

Objective:

To characterize epidemiologically and clinically patients with penetrating abdominal trauma managed surgically.

Materials and methods:

Observational cross-sectional retrospective study of patients with penetrating abdominal trauma, surgically managed in a high complexity level hospital between 2016 and 2018, including sociodemographic and clinical variables related to trauma, type of surgical intervention and associated complications.

Results:

A total of 115 patients were identified, 94.8% of whom were male. The predominant mechanism of injury was a short stabbing weapon (67.8%). Drug and intoxicant use were found in 43.7% of the cases. The main organs injured were the small intestine (39.1%), small vessels (20%) and liver (16.5%). The most frequent types of repair performed were small bowel raffia (22.6%) and small bowel anastomosis (20.9%). The Penetrating Abdominal Trauma Index >25 showed higher hyperlactatemia (80%) and sepsis (50%). Mortality was 3.4%, associated with reoperation and sepsis.

Conclusion:

Mortality due to penetrating abdominal trauma in the Colombian Caribbean coast is low. Nine out of ten cases are men, almost half of the cases are related to the consumption of psychoactive substances and the main complications are hyperlactatemia and sepsis.

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