Gastrointestinal perforation or vascular injury? A diagnostic dilemma for computed tomography in blunt abdominal...

The authors describe an unconscious 20-year-old woman with Crohn's disease who was examined after a motor vehicle accident. During dynamic computed tomography after intravenous and oral administration of contrast material, contrast agent was observed in the peritoneal cavity. The source of the free contrast material was active bleeding, but it was initially mistaken for extravasation from the bowel. Exploratory laparotomy revealed transection of the superior mesenteric vein.