Laparostomy in a rural hospital: an African case report for a very important tool to be spread and increased
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.4081/joper.2017.31Keywords:
Open abdomen, African countries., laparostomy, intestinal obstruction, African countriesAbstract
Laparostomy is a surgical technique enabling the surgeon to leave abdominal fascial edges opened after a laparotomy. This is a useful tool that can be very important in patients with intraabdominal hypertension. Open abdomen indications are: trauma, severe abdominal sepsis, intestinal infarction, vascular surgery and when the surgeon cannot close the abdomen due to high intra abdominal pressure in order to avoid abdominal compartment syndrome or in case of a second look in order to evaluate the conditions of the abdomen (and particularly of the gut). We used this technique in a low income country for a patient with intestinal obstruction where performing a primary anastomosis during the first operation was at high risk of leakage. A middle-aged woman was admitted in Pope John’s Hospital - Aber, Uganda for abdominal pain and intestinal obstruction (IO) symptoms. A laparotomy found a tract of small gut necrotic and twisted under a single adhesion. The small gut above the volvulus was dilated for the obstruction created by the adhesion. We decided to excise the necrotic intestine and leave the abdomen open for a second look and delayed anastomosis and closure. The managing of the IO was conducted by inserting a big Foley catheter in the proximal intestine to drain its enteric content in a similar fashion to a guided external fistula. Open abdomen is a very important technique, relatively new, that can impact positively in treating some surgical patients even in rural hospitals and in the absence of Intensive Care Unit. A simple trick can solve successfully the IO due to the volvulus. Laparostomy should be spread more in African and low-income countries.
Downloads
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
PAGEPress has chosen to apply the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0) to all manuscripts to be published.
An Open Access Publication is one that meets the following two conditions:
- the author(s) and copyright holder(s) grant(s) to all users a free, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual right of access to, and a license to copy, use, distribute, transmit and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works, in any digital medium for any responsible purpose, subject to proper attribution of authorship, as well as the right to make small numbers of printed copies for their personal use.
- a complete version of the work and all supplemental materials, including a copy of the permission as stated above, in a suitable standard electronic format is deposited immediately upon initial publication in at least one online repository that is supported by an academic institution, scholarly society, government agency, or other well-established organization that seeks to enable open access, unrestricted distribution, interoperability, and long-term archiving.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
