Surgical management of injuries of the large intestine.

During the period 1969-79, 106 patients were admitted to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast suffering from injuries of the large intestine as a consequence of civil disturbances in Northern Ireland. Eighty-eight of these had penetrating wounds of the colon or rectum. Eighteen patients died as a result of multiple injuries. In these patients there was an average of 3.6 intra-abdominal organs injured compared with a mean of 2.2 in non-fatal cases. There were no deaths among patients who had isolated colonic or rectal injuries.