Dokucu A.I.Ozturk H.Otcu S.Onen A.Bukte Y.Yucesan S.2024-04-242024-04-2420001016-5142https://hdl.handle.net/11468/24113Injury to the diaphragm is rare in children. From 1983 to 1998, 23 children were treated for diaphragmatic injury at our institution and they were reevaluated for etiologic, diagnostic, therapeutic and prognostic factors. There were 20 boys and 3 girls, ranging in age between 3 to 15 years. Fifteen patients sustained penetrating trauma and eighth patients sustained blunt trauma. Rupture was diagnosed preoperatively in 11 patients. All patients underwent exploratory laparotomy with repair of the diaphragm. Diaphragmatic injury was found in 14 patients at left side and in 9 patients at right side. Isolated diaphragm injury was found in only 3 patients. Twenty patients had associated injuries, most commonly involving the liver, followed by spleen and stomach. Mean Injury Severity Score (ISS) value was measured as 38 in the study. There were two deaths, both unrelated to the diaphragmatic trauma. Diaphragmatic injury must be considered in any child suffering from blunt or penetrating thoracoabdominal trauma. Associated intraabdominal organ injuries are frequent in diaphragmatic rupture and therefore they should be treated by laparotomy. Morbidity and mortality can be minimized by a high index of suspicion, prompt recognition and surgical repair of even in the smallest diaphragmatic injury.trinfo:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccessAbdominal TraumaDiaphragmatic İnjuryIssArticle14111152-s2.0-0033780688N/A