An 8-year-old Cameroonian boy with no significant past history was brought to our emergency service following a road traffic accident. On crossing a road, he was knocked down by an oncoming motorbike weighing approximately 125 kg, medium sized, and traveling at moderate speed. The motorbike fell on the boy with the handlebar catching him in the abdomen as its rider lost control. He sustained a lesion to the head with no initial loss of consciousness. On arrival, he complained of pain in his head and a swelling in the left upper quadrant of his abdomen.\nOn examination, he was conscious, with a Glasgow coma score of 15/15, blood pressure of 119/83 mmHg, pulse of 90 beats per minute, respiratory rate of 18 breaths per minute, temperature of 37.3 °C; he was 96 cm tall and weighed 26 kg. There was a 2 cm laceration in the occipital region of his head, and a swelling in his left lumbar region with mild bruising of the overlying skin (Fig. ). The swelling was reducible and disappeared in the supine position. There was no guarding and no rebound tenderness. He had normal bowel sounds on auscultation and the rest of the examination was unremarkable.\nA diagnosis of mild head injury and a handlebar hernia was made. After resuscitation, his scalp laceration was closed with a one point suture and he was programmed for surgery for the handlebar hernia the next day. A surgical exploration of the area showed a 7 cm laceration of his lateral abdominal wall (Fig. ), running from the external oblique aponeurosis through all the muscle layers to his peritoneum with loops of small bowel present in the opening. There was no blood or feces in the area immediately surrounding the lesion. Exploration of the bowel loops closest to the opening did not reveal signs of intra-abdominal injury. The abdominal wall defect was repaired in layers. The abdominal incision was closed in a standard manner. His postoperative period was uneventful. He was discharged on postoperative day 9 and scheduled 2 weeks later for a follow-up visit, but unfortunately was lost to follow-up.
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.