Background. Bowel injuries are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality following trauma. Evaluating patients who sustained
abdominal trauma with bowel injury may pose a significant diagnostic challenge to the surgeon. Prompt recognition and timely
intervention is necessary to improve outcome. Aim. This study was undertaken to evaluate treatment and outcome of patients
with bowel trauma. Methods. A 5-year retrospective study of all patients presenting with abdominal trauma requiring surgical
intervention seen in the UCH Ibadan, Nigeria was undertaken. Results. There were 71 patients (59 males and 12 females). The
majority of cases (70%) occurred between the 3rd and 5th decades of life. Some 37 patients (52%) sustained blunt abdominal
injury, while 34 patients (48%) sustained penetrating abdominal injury. There were 27 patients with bowel injuries (38%). Isolated
bowel injuries occurred in 19 patients (27%). The most common surgical operation performed was simple closure. There were
3 deaths in patients with bowel injuries. Conclusion. Most cases of bowel injury can be managed by simple closure, a technique that
is not so technically demanding for surgeons in less-developed countries. This study has also incidentally identified a “rule of six”
for patients with bowel injuries and abdominal trauma.