[Video-assisted surgery in the diagnosis and treatment of thoracic and abdominal injuries].

AIM

to prove the efficacy and safety of video-assisted techniques in diagnosis and treatment of victims with thoracic and abdominal trauma.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

It was analyzed treatment of 249 patients with thoracic (n=82), abdominal (n=122) and thoracoabdominal injuries (n=35) who were divided into 2 groups depending on treatment. Control group of conventional diagnosis and treatment included 130 (52%) patients. Group 2 consisted of 119 (48%) patients in whom differentiated surgical approach combined with current technologies was applied.

RESULTS

Video-assisted techniques did not reveal thoracic (n=9) and abdominal (n=7) injuries in 16 out of 103 cases. There was conversion to open surgery in 20 patients. In group 2 conventional thoracic (n=15) and abdominal (n=22) interventions were made in 37 (36%) cases while endoscopic surgery was used in other 66 (64%) patients. Postoperative complications after endoscopy were observed in 8 patients. There were 2 deaths.

CONCLUSION

Rational and effective use of video-assisted surgery for thoracic and abdominal trauma significantly improves outcomes in these severe patients.