[Penetrating wound of the abdomen. Profile of the suffering patient at Dakar teaching hospital].

Introduction: In Senegal, the rate of penetrating wound of the abdomen seems to be in great progression. The purpose of this study was to make a descriptive analysis of the epidemiological data on the patient suffering from a penetrating wound of the abdomen.

Material and method: It is about a retrospective study performed on a 5 years period from January 1997 to January 2002. This study covered 90 cases of penetrating wounds of the abdomen listed at the emergency department of Dakar teaching hospital. The rate, age, sex, responsible agent, circumstances of the wound, place of the injury, evacuation mode, time of admission and check-up injury were studied.

Results: The average absolute rate of the penetrating wounds of the abdomen was 18 cases per year. The average age was about 27 +/- 10 years with 88 men for 2 women. The responsible agent was a knife (87%), a firearm (6%), a broken glass (4%), a bullock horn (2%) and a piece of iron (1%). Circumstances of the injury was aggression (91%), accident (6%), self-mutilation (2%), suicide attempt (1%). Evacuation was done by firemen (60%), by the ambulances of the medical structures (22%), and by private individuals (18%). The average time of admission was 5 hours. Nearly 61% of the wounds were located in the umbilical, epigastric, left hypochondre and left side areas. Wound was single in 93,4% of cases and linear in 71,8% of cases. We noted an exit of epiploon (38 cases), peritoneal signs (13 cases) and a small bowel evisceration (9 cases). The treatment was a systematic laparotomy (68%) and a simple closure of the wound with a good follow-up for any further aggravation (32%).

Conclusion: The patient admitted at the surgical emergency unit of Dakar teaching hospital for penetrating wound of the abdomen is generally a young man, victim of aggression by knife, evacuated by firemen within 5 hours, which present a single and linearwound in perish-umbilical area with exit of epiploon and/or small bowel evisceration, which would undertaken a surgical operation in 68% of cases.