Skip to main contentDr. Jivraj Mehta Hospital · Vasna, Ahmedabad
Last updated: 20-Oct-2026
Abdominal trauma: road accidents, falls, sports injuries, assaults and stab wounds · injuries of the liver, spleen, bowel, pancreas and blood vessels · Dr. Jivraj Mehta Hospital, Vasna, Ahmedabad
An injury to the belly can bleed inside without any outside wound. Pain, swelling, dizziness or a seat-belt bruise after an accident needs an emergency check the same hour.
Many liver and spleen injuries heal without an operation. The patient is watched closely, with repeat checks, blood tests and scans, and surgery stays ready if needed.
Surgery is needed when bleeding will not settle, when the bowel is torn, or when the patient is unstable. The scan and the bedside checks decide this together.
Abdominal trauma means any injury to the belly from outside force. Doctors split it into blunt injury, like a crash or a fall, and penetrating injury, like a stab.
Dr. Jivraj Mehta Hospital. Two higher degrees in surgery of the digestive system, and 18 years of experience in liver, pancreas, stomach and bowel surgery, planned and emergency. Scans, endoscopy, intensive care, blood bank and theatres work as one team at Dr. Jivraj Mehta Hospital, Vasna, Ahmedabad.
Dr Harsh Shah
MS, MCh (Surgical Gastroenterology), DrNB (Surgical Gastroenterology)
Registered with Gujarat Medical Council, Reg. No. G-38738
Intestine & Gastro Surgeon · Dr. Jivraj Mehta Hospital, Vasna, Ahmedabad
Injured patients are cared for with the emergency doctor, the anaesthetist, the radiologist and the intensive care team. Bones, the head, the chest and the kidneys are checked by their own specialists at the same time.
Blunt injury is the common type in Gujarat. It comes from two-wheeler and car accidents, falls from a height, a cow or buffalo kick, a handlebar hitting a child’s belly, or a fight. The skin may look normal. The damage is inside. Organs that sit close to the ribs, like the liver and the spleen, crack and bleed. The bowel and its fan of blood vessels can tear where a seat belt or a handlebar presses.
Penetrating injury comes from a knife, a sharp tool, glass, a fall onto a rod, or a bullet. The outside wound can look small, while the tip has gone deep. A stab wound low on the chest can also reach the liver, the spleen or the diaphragm, the muscle sheet that separates the chest from the belly.
| Organ | How it is usually hurt | What usually happens next |
|---|---|---|
| Spleen (left upper belly) | Blow to the left ribs, fall, crash. | Watched in most stable patients. Blocking the bleeding vessel by a catheter, or surgery, if it keeps bleeding. |
| Liver (right upper belly) | Blow to the right ribs, crash, stab. | Watched in most stable patients. Catheter treatment or surgery for ongoing bleeding or a bile leak. |
| Small bowel and its blood vessels | Seat belt, handlebar, kick, stab. | A tear usually needs an operation to repair or join the bowel. |
| Large bowel | Stab, crash, fall onto an object. | Repair, or removal of a short part. A temporary bag is sometimes needed. |
| Pancreas and duodenum | Handlebar or steering wheel in the upper belly. | Watched, drained, or operated, depending on whether the main duct is torn. |
| Diaphragm | Stab low on the chest, heavy crash. | Repaired, often through keyhole surgery, so that a hernia does not form later. |
Some injuries show late. A patient who feels fine at the scene can bleed hours later, so these signs mean an emergency visit even after a first check.
Children and older people hide pain well. A child who will not walk, stops playing, or keeps vomiting after a fall needs checking. Older people on blood thinners bleed more after a smaller injury.
Testing follows a fixed order: breathing and blood pressure first, then a bedside ultrasound, then a CT scan once the patient is steady enough to travel to it.
A patient who is unstable and has blood on the bedside ultrasound does not wait for a CT scan. They go to theatre. The scan helps patients who can wait; it should never delay one who cannot.
Usually the injury is the whole story. Sometimes an organ bleeds after a small knock because it was already diseased, and the scan picks this up.
A spleen that ruptures after a minor fall may have been enlarged by malaria, typhoid, a viral fever or a blood disorder. A liver that bleeds heavily after a light blow can carry a benign growth, such as an adenoma, or rarely a cancer. The trauma CT also finds things that are unrelated to the accident, such as a kidney or adrenal lump, a liver spot or gallstones.
We read these findings with the radiologist and tell the family in plain words. A benign finding gets a follow-up plan. A finding that might be a growth gets the right test after the injury has settled, never in the middle of the emergency.
Treatment climbs one rung at a time: close watching, then a catheter to block a bleeding vessel, then keyhole surgery, then open surgery. Most patients stop on the lower rungs.
A steady patient with a liver or spleen tear and no bowel injury can often be watched. The plan is safe only with repeat checks and theatre ready.
Watching works when the pulse and blood pressure stay steady, the haemoglobin holds, the CT scan shows no ongoing leak of contrast, and the belly does not grow more tender. Many such patients go home within a week. They need a quiet period afterwards, because a healing spleen or liver can bleed again if it is knocked.
A small stab wound that has not gone through the belly wall may need only cleaning and stitching. The surgeon checks the depth of the wound under local anaesthesia before deciding.
Watching stops, and surgery starts, if the pulse climbs, the blood pressure drops, more and more blood is needed, or the belly becomes rigid. This switch is planned from the first hour, so no time is lost.
The operation depends on which organ is hurt and how badly. The aim is always to stop bleeding, close any leak and keep as much healthy organ as is safe.
Spleen. A torn spleen is repaired, partly removed or fully removed (splenectomy), depending on the tear and on how steady the patient is. A person can live a normal life without a spleen, but needs vaccines and quick care for fevers, as explained below.
Liver. Most liver tears stop bleeding with packing, stitching or sealing. Deep tears near the large veins need a surgeon who operates on the liver often. A bile leak afterwards is usually treated with a drain or an ERCP stent, not a second operation.
Small bowel. A small hole is stitched. A badly bruised or torn length is removed and the two ends are joined. A tear in the bowel’s fan of vessels (the mesentery) can cut off blood to a loop of bowel, which is then removed.
Bowel injuries are repaired the same day in most cases. A temporary bag is used only when a direct join would not be safe.
Large bowel. A clean, early tear is repaired. A large or late tear, or one with heavy soiling, may need a temporary stoma, a bag on the belly that is usually closed some weeks later.
Pancreas and duodenum. A bruise without a torn main duct is treated with drains and time. A torn duct in the body or tail often needs removal of that part of the pancreas, with or without the spleen. Injuries near the head of the pancreas are planned with great care, because the bile duct, the duodenum and large vessels meet there.
Stomach and diaphragm. A torn stomach is stitched. A torn diaphragm is repaired to stop the stomach or bowel slipping into the chest later.
The first two days are spent under close watch. Pain control, early sips of water and early walking are the three things that speed recovery.
After an operation, most patients spend the first day or two in intensive care or a high-dependency bed. Pain is controlled with drips and, often, a pain catheter in the back. Sips of water start once the bowel wakes up, then soft food. Walking starts early, because it lowers the risk of chest infection and leg clots.
After non-operative care, the patient stays in bed for the first day or two, then walks. Haemoglobin is checked again before home. The family gets a written list of warning signs and a contact number.
Every treatment carries risk, and the injury itself carries more. The main ones are:
We explain the risks that apply to the injury in front of us, before consent, in words the family can follow.
After splenectomy the body fights some germs less well. Vaccines, a ready antibiotic plan, and fast care for any high fever keep this risk low for life.
Vaccines against pneumococcus, meningococcus and Haemophilus are given, ideally about two weeks after an emergency splenectomy, or before discharge if the patient may not return. A yearly flu vaccine helps too. Tell every future doctor that you have no spleen, and seek care the same day for a high fever.
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Reviews are shown exactly as written on Google. None names an abdominal injury. The first is about emergency care for a family member, and the other two are about general care.
Cost depends on the rung of treatment, the days in intensive care and any other injuries. The family gets an estimate as early as the emergency allows.
Dr. Jivraj Mehta Hospital, Vasna, Ahmedabad works with the major insurers and cashless options, and its office handles pre-authorisation. Accident cases are registered as medico-legal cases, as the law requires; this does not hold up treatment. Please bring the patient’s ID, insurance card, a list of medicines, and any scan done at another hospital, on a CD or a link.
Yes. In a blunt injury the skin often looks normal while the liver, the spleen or the bowel is torn inside. Pain, swelling or dizziness after a blow needs an emergency check.
No. Many stable patients are treated by close watching, sometimes with a catheter to block the bleeding vessel. Surgery is kept ready if the bleeding does not settle.
A small bowel tear can hide on the first scan. Repeat examination over the next hours catches it, because the belly grows more tender and a fever may start.
Yes, in a stable patient. Laparoscopy is useful to check a stab wound, repair the diaphragm or look for a bowel tear. An unstable patient needs open surgery.
Desk work often within a few weeks. Heavy lifting, contact sport and two-wheeler riding wait longer, usually several weeks, until the surgeon clears you.
Most bowel tears are repaired without a bag. A temporary bag is used when the tear is large or late, and it is usually closed after some weeks.
Dr. Jivraj Mehta Hospital, Vasna, Ahmedabad
Dr. Jivraj Mehta Hospital, Dr Jivraj Mehta Marg, Vasna, Ahmedabad 380007.
Emergency care, CT scanning, intensive care, blood bank, endoscopy and surgery.
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Patients come to Ahmedabad from across Gujarat, southern Rajasthan and western Madhya Pradesh. You can call us on +91-63555-64601.
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