ABSTRACT

The stomach is seldom injured by blunt abdominal trauma and the management of penetrating injuries to the stomach is usually straightforward. The stomach has good mobility and an excellent blood supply, which makes primary closure almost always successful. Oesophageal and duodenal injuries are, however, more common, and they are much more difficult to treat. The management of blunt and penetrating duodenal trauma was covered in Chapter 15. The oesophagus is seldom injured by blunt trauma, but it is vulnerable to injury in penetrating trauma to the neck. This is discussed in Chapter 10. Similarly, the intrathoracic or abdominal oesophagus can also be injured by penetrating trauma. However, most oesophageal injuries are iatrogenic, occurring during either endoscopy or surgery.