VALUE OF COMPUTED-TOMOGRAPHY IN THE EVALUATION OF RETROPERITONEAL ORGAN INJURY IN BLUNT ABDOMINAL-TRAUMA

Computed tomography (CT) is widely used in the evaluation of blunt abd ominal trauma. One of its purported advantages is in the evaluation of the retroperitoneum. This study was undertaken to determine the utili ty of CT in diagnosing retroperitoneal organ injury. A retrospective c hart review of 466 stable patients with blunt abdominal trauma who rec eived abdominal CT was conducted. Twelve percent of the patients had C T scans showing retroperitoneal organ injury. There were 58 total inju ries, with the kidney being the most frequently injured organ. Twenty four patients required laparotomy, confirming the CT diagnosis in 8 pa tients (7 renal and 1 pancreatic). Two duodenal injuries were found at laparotomy that had not been seen on CT scan. Fourteen percent of the patients with positive CT scans had a positive laparotomy, and of tho se, 38% were therapeutic. Five percent of the patients with positive s cans had therapeutic laparotomies, These data infer that the utility o f CT to define retroperitoneal organ injury is lower than previously s uspected. Copyright (C) 1998 by W.B. Saunders Company.