Small bowel trauma in children and adolescents.

Fifty-five children and adolescents with blunt and penetrating small bowel injuries were treated during a 17-year period. Fourteen patients had blunt injuries, and there were no deaths in this group. The remaining 41 patients had penetrating small bowel injuries, with a mortality of 10 per cent. A decision to operate based on physical examination can be made in the pediatric age group without unduly delaying operation or increasing mortality.