Assessment of blunt abdominal injury using computed tomography scan: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background and Aim: Assessment of hemodynamic stability is the most important initial concern in the evaluation of a patient with blunt abdominal trauma. Computed tomography is also the modality of choice for diagnosing injuries to the diaphragm, which may result in major morbidity and mortality if undetected and may not present until many years after the event. Hence, the present study was conducted to study computed tomography evaluation of blunt abdominal injury.Material and Methods: abdomen CT scan reports of 80 patients with BAT, who were stable enough to undergo radiological investigation were used for this study. All CT scans were obtained with a 16 slice MDCT Scanner (Siemens). All patients received intravenous bolus of iodinated contrast agents. Individual organ injuries were graded according to the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma (AAST-OIS) injury scoring scale. The overall imaging findings were analyzed for their role in guiding the therapeutic options, whether conservative or surgical.Results: The mean age of patients was 42.05 years. Number of male patients was 55 and number of female patients was 25. It was observed that OIS grade II patients were 14, OIS grade III patients were 24, OIS grade IV patients were 7 and OIS grade V patients were 5. The highest proportions of conservatively managed patients were seen in OIS grade II patients. However, highest proportion of operated patients was seen in OIS grade III patients. Conclusion: CT scan for blunt abdominal injury is a reliable and accurate method for diagnosis. It has all the qualities to make it a gold standard for initial investigation of choice for blunt abdominal injury patients.