A 27-year-old male with no past medical history was the driver and sole occupant of a car which crashed through a fence at 80 kph and hit a lamp post. He was wearing a seatbelt, the airbags did not deploy and despite the significant intrusion into the passenger space, he extricated himself unaided. He was resuscitated according to Advanced Trauma Life Support® principles. The primary survey identified decreased air entry at the base of the right lung and right-sided abdominal and lower chest tenderness. Abrasions were evident over the anterolateral abdominal wall and a large, right-sided abdominal swelling was noted.\nTrauma series computed tomography (CT) scans demonstrated a flail segment between the sixth and eight ribs with disruption of the intercostal muscles and a small right haemothorax (Fig. a). In the abdomen, there was hepatic contusion with an intrinsic liver injury (Fig. b). Blood was noted around the liver with minor active haemorrhage. The right abdominal wall was ruptured—the right rectus abdominis muscle had been torn from its costal attachments to the midpoint. The hepatic flexure of the colon had herniated through the intercostal muscles of the eighth and ninth ribs and was lying adjacent to the fractured ribs (Fig. c). Both small and large bowel had herniated through the abdominal wall lateral to rectus abdominis, but remained covered by external oblique (Fig. d). Herniation of small and large bowel immediately adjacent to the fractured ribs raised the suspicion of occult bowel injury not detected on CT.\nThe operative management was undertaken by both thoracic and abdominal surgeons. The ribs were re-opposed with absorbable polyglycolic acid sutures and a chest drain inserted. At laparotomy, it was noted that the hernia sac contained omentum, the bowel having reduced spontaneously under general anaesthesia. A small rent in the mesentery of the proximal small bowel was noted. The abdominal defect was repaired with a 20 × 30 cm sheet of cross-linked acellular porcine dermal collagen (Permacol™, Covidien, Gosport, Hants, UK) which was sutured to the margins of the fascial defect with interrupted nylon sutures, using a ‘bridge’ technique, with a 5-cm underlay on the left.\nPost-operatively, the patient was managed in the intensive care unit for 24 h. A seroma that developed at the hernia site after 1 week was treated conservatively. Impaired abdominal wall function, particularly reduced mobility, was noted post-operatively. Sitting up from lying down position and hip flexion caused difficulty, but improved with intensive physiotherapy. He was discharged home 9 days after admission.\nSix weeks after discharge, he was well with good mobility. He had a persistent seroma at the hernia site. A repeat CT of the thorax and abdomen at 10 weeks demonstrated no residual defect in the anterior abdominal wall and resolution of the seroma (Fig. ).
A 45-year-old male laborer was admitted in emergency department with complaints of pain abdomen and constipation. There was history of fall from a height on to a blunt object. Two days back, the patient was febrile and had tachypnoea and tachycardia. His blood pressure was in normal range. There was abrasion and bruise over the skin, along with surgical emphysema on right lumbar region. On abdominal examination, tenderness and guarding were elicitable in the right lumbar region. Blood tests were normal. USG of the abdomen revealed free fluid in the perihepatic region. Chest X-ray revealed gas under both domes of diaphragm.\nCECT of the abdomen showed a defect in the abdominal wall with herniation of small bowel loops []. Rest of the abdominal organs were normal. The abdomen was explored through a midline incision. There was a rent in the right rectus muscle with peritoneal disruption of approximately 8 cm in length. The ileal loops were herniating through the peritoneal defect. A solitary perforation of 2 cm in size was identified approximately 50 cm proximal to ileocaecal junction. Minimal peritoneal contamination was present. Loop illeostomy was done in left iliac fossa with repair of right lumbar defect in layers over a drain. Postoperative period was uneventful. Restoration of bowel continuity was done after 3 months. Patient is doing well in follow-up.