RESUMEN
The indications for colostomies in traumatic lesions of the colon were prospectively analysed in the light of the anatomical and functional impairment, the time that elapsed after the injury and additional risk factors. In the period between January 1981 and June 1986 75 patients were operated for colonic trauma: 39 had gunshot wounds, 29 suffered stab wounds and seven had blunt injuries. Colostomies were indicated in 47 patients that presented the most severe lesions, whereas the other 28 patients underwent primary repair. Infectious complications occurred in 21 cases; they were related to a pre-operative interval of more than 10 hours, severity of colonic lesion (CIS) grade III to V, blood transfusion of more than 2500 ml, the presence of colostomy, and an abdominal trauma index (PATI) of more than 25. Five patients died in consequence of infectious complications (p less than 0.05), all of them suffering from severe injuries. These findings suggest that in acute trauma of the colon after less than 6 hours colostomy is justified when the CIS is III to V, the PATI more than 25, or in hemodinamically unstable patients.