A plethora of reasons can cause abdominal trauma. Injury may be confined to the abdominal area or accompanied by multi-system trauma. The nature and severity of the damage depend on the forces involved.
A plethora of reasons can cause abdominal trauma. Injury may be confined to the abdominal area or accompanied by multi-system trauma. The nature and severity of the damage depend on the forces involved.
Types of Abdominal trauma
By damaged structure
Abdominal wall
Solid-organ (liver, spleen, pancreas, kidneys)
Hollow viscus (stomach, small intestine, colon, ureters, bladder)
Vasculature
By the mechanism of injury
Blunt abdominal trauma can be caused by a direct blow, impact with an object, or deceleration forces. The liver and spleen are the organs that are most commonly injured. CT scans have greatly helped determine and identify abdominal injuries.
Penetrating abdominal trauma is usually caused by a gunshot wound, shrapnel or a stab wound. These injuries may or may not injure the peritoneum (a tissue that lines the abdominal wall and covers most of the abdominal organs). Still, even if it does, it may not result in organ injury. Gunshot wounds more often cause damage to intra-abdominal structures than stab wounds.
Signs and symptoms of abdominal trauma
Abdominal pain is present
Pain is mild often obscured by accompanying painful injuries
Pain from splenic injury radiates to the left shoulder
Pain from small intestine perforation steadily increases over a few hours
Health 
Find a 
