Penetrating abdominal injuries in children in Nigeria.

This is a report of a retrospective study of 24 children managed for penetrating abdominal injury over 10 years, and it represents 34% of all abdominal injuries in children in that period. Falls onto sharp objects within and around the home were responsible for ten of the injuries, seven were injured by animal horns and four were sporting injuries. Violence and road traffic accidents were uncommon. Most patients (67%) had evisceration of omentum or intestine, and one of these was found at laparotomy to have a jejuno-jejunal intussusception. Seven children had injury to hollow viscera. There were three deaths, one each from overwhelming sepsis, tetanus and haemorrhage.