Paediatric abdominal wall hernia following handlebar injury: should we diagnose more and operate less?

Traumatic abdominal wall hernia following handlebar injury can be easily missed and is thus underreported. A 12-year-old boy presented with handlebar injury to the left upper quadrant of his abdomen. Except for a localised swelling, thought to be related to a haematoma, he was haemodynamically stable. CT revealed an abdominal wall defect with herniating fat that was not evident clinically and was also missed on immediate ultrasound examination. As there were no associated injuries and the abdominal wall defect was small without any herniating bowel loops, masterly inactivity was observed. After 6 weeks, the swelling has disappeared completely and there is progressive reduction in the size of the defect.