Introduction Traumatic abdominal wall hernia is an uncommon injury despite the high prevalence of blunt abdominal trauma. Traumatic abdominal hernia was first described by Selby in 1906 and to date, fewer than 60 cases have been reported [1]. Factors that need to be considered are the different patterns of abdominal muscular wall disruption, its association with significant intraabdominal injury, and the timing and types of surgical repair. We report 2 cases of traumatic abdominal wall hernia, using two different surgical approaches, and discuss various methods of optimal management. Case Report 1 A 54-year-old woman fell from a five storey building whilst trying to climb down a water pipe outside the building to escape a fire in the building. She had landed on her right side and sustained fractures to her right 6 th to 9 th ribs, a right haemothorax, and fractures to her right iliac wing and pubic rami. She also had bruising and a tender swelling over her left abdominal iliac fossa, contralateral to where she had fallen on. She was obese and her abdomen was moderately distended; bowel sounds were present. As she remained cardiovascularly stable, a computer tomographic (CT) scan of the abdomen and pelvis was performed. This revealed a defect in the left lower abdominal wall with protrusion of intestinal loops into the subcutaneous fat plane (Figure 1). This was associated with small bowel distension as a result of partial intestinal obstruction from the hernia. No solid organ injury was detected but some free fluid was present within the pelvis.
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