Adhesions following blunt abdominal trauma: a 1-year evolution leading to acute abdomen

A man in the 30s presented with acute abdominal pain, nausea and fever, 1 year after sustaining blunt abdominal trauma. He had no history of prior abdominal surgery. Imaging revealed bowel distension and free fluid without an identifiable obstruction point. Exploratory laparotomy uncovered multiple post-traumatic adhesions, ileal stenosis and punctiform perforations, requiring resection and anastomosis. The patient recovered uneventfully. This case underscores the importance of maintaining clinical suspicion for post-traumatic adhesions as a rare but serious cause of small bowel obstruction. Delayed symptom onset and inconclusive imaging can obscure diagnosis. Early surgical intervention is critical for preventing complications such as ischaemia or perforation. Clinicians should consider trauma-related adhesions in patients with a ‘virgin abdomen’ presenting with obstructive symptoms.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  BMJ Case Reports

• Publication date

  2025-11-01

• Fields of study

  Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1136/bcr-2025-267249PMID 41224360
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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