(1) The Second Department of Surgery, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, 113 Tokyo, Japan;(2) The Department of Surgery, Haibara General Hospital, 15 Hosoe Haibara-cho, Haibara-gun, 421-04 Shizuoka, Japan
Abstract:
We report herein the case of a 23-year-old man with Crohn's disease who was found to have a perforated small bowel following blunt abdominal trauma sustained in a traffic accident. The general findings of diffuse peritonitis were identified by physical examination, and a plain X-ray film showed free air in the abdominal cavity. An emergency laparotomy was performed which revealed three perforated ulcers in the affected intestine. An abrupt increase in intraluminal pressure due to the striking force of the steering wheel to the abdomen was assumed to have been the cause of these perforations.