A review of computerized tomography in blunt abdominal trauma at Christchurch Hospital

A review was undertaken of computerized tomography (CT) of the abdomen, performed between March 1993 and December 1994 for blunt abdominal trauma at Christchurch Hospital. CT findings were correlated with the clinical outcome. The outcome was either recovery from an abdominal point of view with or without laparotomy, or postmortem. A total of 116 CTs were reviewed, of which 76 were abnormal. CT was highly sensitive and specific for a variety of abdominal traumatic lesions. There were 1 false positive and 4 false negatives (only 2 of these significant). There was 1 non-therapeutic laparotomy based on CT findings. There was only 1 case of delayed treatment based on CT results. Three patients had unexplained findings of pneumoperitoneum. Care should be taken when interpreting the presence of free intraperitoneal air on CT scan. The possibility of missed bowel perforation should be considered, especially in the presence of free intra-abdominal fluid and no solid organ injury to account for it. CT scans are useful in the conservative management of solid organ injuries.