[Negative laparotomies in gunshot and stab injuries of the abdomen].

A selective approach is taken, as a matter of principle, to cases of abdominal injuries at the Traumatological Department of the Faculty of Medicine at Instanbul University. Surgical treatment was applied to 378 in 2,968 hospitalised patients for contused or penetrating abdominal injuries, in 1983 and 1984. The rate of negative laparotomy was as low as 7.3 per cent owing to routine peritoneal flushing. However, laparotomy has been preferred and resulted in a negative laparotomy rate of 21 per cent, since problems are quite often faced in the diagnosis of stab injuries.