Gastric rupture from blunt abdominal trauma.

Gastric rupture from blunt abdominal trauma is a rare occurrence. Six patients are presented and reviewed with the literature since 1930. Several features of the diagnosis and management of this injury are emphasized, including a strong association with thoracic trauma and a high incidence of intra-abdominal abscess formation which results from massive intraperitoneal contamination. Mortality is not usually from gastric rupture per se, but rather from concomitant vascular or neurologic injury. The key to survival for these patients is early operative intervention and an aggressive approach to reoperation and drainage of abscesses.