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CT Scan in Blunt Gastrointestinal Trauma

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CT Scan in Abdominal Emergency Surgery

Part of the book series: Hot Topics in Acute Care Surgery and Trauma ((HTACST))

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Abstract

Abdominal injury as a result of penetrating or blunt trauma may represent a life-threatening condition requiring rapid diagnosis and treatment. The Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma Multi-institutional Hollow Viscus Injury (HVI) study, the largest retrospective hollow viscus injury to date, found the incidence of blunt small bowel injury (BSBI) of 1.1%, blunt colonic injury as 0.3% (30.2% of patients diagnosed with HVI had a colon injury), and the incidence of blunt gastric injury to be much lower (only 4.3% of a total of 2632 patients identified with HVI) [1, 2].

Blunt small bowel injury (BSBI) is an infrequent diagnosis. The knowledge of the mechanism of trauma and types of BSBI are important because the diagnosis of these injuries remains a problem. The introduction of abdominal CT scan as the primary diagnostic method for blunt abdominal trauma in hemodynamically stable patients has provided an accurate assessment of hollow viscus injuries in the presence of specific signs, helping the trauma surgeons to choose the correct management. The risk of missed BSBI is a challenge because delay in the diagnosis may occur and contribute significantly to increase morbidity and mortality.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Trauma Surgery, Department of Surgery, School of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil

    Gustavo Pereira Fraga M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.S.

  2. Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Rao Ivatury M.D., F.A.C.S., F.C.C.M.

Authors
  1. Gustavo Pereira Fraga M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.S.
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  2. Rao Ivatury M.D., F.A.C.S., F.C.C.M.
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Correspondence to Gustavo Pereira Fraga M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.S. .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Emergency and Trauma Surgery, Ospedale Maggiore di Parma Emergency and Trauma Surgery, Parma, Parma, Italy

    Fausto Catena

  2. Cambridge Colorectal Unit, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, United Kingdom

    Salomone Di Saverio

  3. General, Emergency and Trauma Surgery, Department Bufalini Hospital, Cesena, Italy

    Luca Ansaloni

  4. General, Emergency and Trauma Surgery Department, Bufalini Hospital, Cesena, Italy

    Federico Coccolini

  5. Department of Surgery, Macerata Hospital, Macerata, Italy

    Massimo Sartelli

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Fraga, G.P., Ivatury, R. (2018). CT Scan in Blunt Gastrointestinal Trauma. In: Catena, F., Di Saverio, S., Ansaloni, L., Coccolini, F., Sartelli, M. (eds) CT Scan in Abdominal Emergency Surgery. Hot Topics in Acute Care Surgery and Trauma. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48347-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48347-4_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-48346-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-48347-4

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