[Importance peritoneal puncture-lavage in blunt injuries of the abdomen]

In a series of 67 peritoneal lavages undertaken on 112 polytraumatized patients, the authors were able to demonstrate the diagnostic value of this method in few of a difficult or ambiguous clinical examination. Laparotomy was performed on 27 patients for whom the lavages were positive. The authors aimed at demonstrating the method's simplicity and value in the absence of other expensive diagnostic methods, aside from its simplicity.