A Study of Exploratory Laparotomies for Various Reasons from 2012 -2016 at Basaveshwar Teaching and General Hospital, Kalaburagi

There are very clear-cut indications for exploratory laparotomy. With all of the diagnostic aids in use at present and even with the maximum amount of skill on the part of the surgeon, conditions arise which are not possible of diagnosis without exploratory laparotomy. This study was done to look for the various indications of exploratory laparotomy, their presentation and outcome. This retrospective study of exploratory laparotomies was conducted in patients who were admitted and treated in surgical wards from January 2012 to May 2016. Patients were evaluated thoroughly with history, physical examination, routine investigations, ultrasonography, erect x-ray abdomen and then subjected to exploratory laparotomy after obtaining written and informed grave risk consent. Patients were subjected to emergency or elective exploratory laparotomy depending on the presentation of symptoms and clinical diagnosis. In this study a total of 205 cases who underwent exploratory laparotomy for various reasons were studied which showed that age group between 31-40 years had highest incidence of exploratory laparotomies and the majority of them were diagnosed with hollow viscous perforation and presented with abdominal pain as the chief complaint. This study depicts that exploratory laparotomy has to be done as an inevitable procedure in case of hollow viscous perforation, with grave risk being explained as it carries the highest mortality with laparotomies. Lifestyle changes like avoidance of alcohol and smoking is a must to decrease the incidence of hollow viscous perforation, as these habits are strongly associated with perforation.