ABSTRACT

To evaluate the diagnostic value of ultrasonography (US) in detecting intraabdominal injuries in patients presenting with blunt abdominal trauma.

All patients admitted to the emergency department with blunt abdominal trauma in 2009 were retrospectively evaluated. Records of clinical examinations, US reports and computed tomography (CT) fi ndings were evaluated. Sensitivity, specifi city, positive and negative predictive values for detecting abdominal free fl uid and/or intraabdominal solid organ injury with US were determined.

A total of 110 patients with blunt abdominal trauma who underwent both US and CT were included in the study. Sensitivity, specifi city, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of US in detecting abdominal free fl uid were 100%, 85.4%, 50%, 100% and 87.3%, respectively. Sensitivity, specifi city, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of US in detecting intraabdominal solid organ injury were 15.6%, 0.00%, 41.2%, 0.00% and 12.7%, respectively.

When screening patients with blunt abdominal trauma, US has a high diagnostic performance after clinical evaluation, particularly for determining abdominal free fl uid. However, it is not suffi ciently successful in detecting intraabdominal solid organ injury.

Keywords: Blunt trauma, abdominal free fl uid, solid organ injury, ultrasonography, computed tomography