Journal of pediatric surgery
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Multicenter Study
Delay in diagnosis and treatment of blunt intestinal injury does not adversely affect prognosis in the pediatric trauma patient.
Blunt intestinal injury (BII) requiring surgical intervention in the pediatric trauma population remains difficult to diagnose. We sought to determine whether delay in treatment had an adverse affect on patient outcome. ⋯ These data suggest that delay in operative intervention does not have a significant effect on prognosis after pediatric BII. Appropriate observation and serial examination rather than repeated computed tomography and/or urgent exploration would appear adequate when the diagnosis is in question.