Abdominal trauma due to road traffic accidents in Qatar

Objectives: To measure the incidence and severity of abdominal trauma due to road traffic accidents (RTA) in Qatar. Patient and methods: Retrospective analysis of all patients admitted with documented abdominal trauma to the only acute General Hospital in the state of Qatar in the period 1991-1995. Results: In the 5-year period, 3744 patients were admitted following an RTA. Of these, 667 (17.8%) were admitted to the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) and 84 patients had abdominal injuries. constituting 0.45% of total number and 12.6% of patients admitted to SICU. Twenty-one (25%) of patients with abdominal trauma died. However, only nine patients died from the abdominal injury. Eight patients;lied due to hepatic injury and one patient due to splenic injury. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.