Diagnostic peritoneal lavage: technical aspects, and its place in blunt abdominal trauma

The use of peritoneal lavage as an adjunct in the diagnosis of blunt abdominal trauma is now well established. It is especially useful when clinical findings are equivocal, or when the trauma patient is uncooperative as a result of head injury or alcohol abuse. However, to achieve a high degree of accuracy the finer points of technique must be rigidly adhered to. In the series presented there were no false-negatives, and the single false-positive was caused by a technical failure due to the use of an unsatisfactory catheter with a sharp trocar.