Efficacy of CT following peritoneal lavage in abdominal trauma

The radiologic and surgical literature has described the use of either abdominal/pelvic CT or peritoneal lavage in evaluating blunt abdominal trauma. The relative merits of each technique have been discussed. It has been stated that postlavage CT is not useful because of the residual peritoneal fluid. A retrospective study of 28 patients who underwent postlavage Ct was performed over 21 months. The impact of the CT study on the patient's treatment was scored. Although residual lavage fluid was present, CT provided specific and clinically useful information in 57% of patients, including patients in whom peritoneal lavage results were positive, negative, indeterminate, or the procedure was unsuccessful. A variety of intraperitoneal and retroperitoneal traumatic lesions were imaged on postlavage CT. The authors conclude that postlavage CT is often clinically useful in the patient who has incurred blunt abdominal trauma, irrespective of the peritoneal lavage results