The management of injuries of abdominal organs and the mortality from such injuries continue to be of great interest to surgeons, as evidenced by the many pertinent studies through the years. This interest is reflected in a steady improvement in the techniques of management and in a decrease in mortality rates. In the last 60 years, the mortality rates from all abdominal injuries have decreased from greater than 50% in the early part of the century to less than 10% during the last decade. Many studies of injuries to the abdomen have contrasted the type of injuries seen in civilian groups with those sustained in military combat and have emphasized a larger number of injuries from stabbings in civilians, as compared to gunshot and shrapnel injuries, the predominant wounds in war.8 Combat injuries usually bear a higher mortality than do wounds to civilians. This may reflect not only the