2023 Volume 13 Pages 47-51
Background：The mortality rate of motor vehicle accident victims who wear seatbelts is lower than that of victims who do not wear seatbelts. However, the incidence of gastrointestinal injuries is high when seatbelts are worn. Methods：We retrospectively examined the clinical background and short-term perioperative outcomes of nine patients with gastrointestinal transmural injury due to seatbelt trauma who were admitted to our hospital. Results：Four patients were diagnosed with a gastrointestinal transmural injury on initial examination, and five patients were diagnosed and underwent surgery within 24 hours of the starting follow-up. Discussion：Small intestine perforation due to blunt trauma may be difficult to diagnose on initial examination because the signs are not always apparent on physical and computer tomography （CT） examinations. However, initial contrast-enhanced CT of patients who could not be definitively diagnosed on initial examination showed wall thickening of the gastrointestinal tract and contrast enhancement in the injured region. Conclusion：In cases where contrast-enhanced CT of the gastrointestinal tract shows findings such as thickening of the tract wall and contrast enhancement, gastrointestinal injuries due to seatbelt trauma should be suspected.
