Evaluation of three phases computed tomography scan findings in blunt abdominal trauma

Abstract

Introduction: Blunt abdominal trauma is one of the important types of trauma and causes mortality in patients. Identifying the internal organ damage is necessary to proper management of trauma patients. Computed tomography (CT) scan is a powerful non-invasive imaging technique to assess internal organ damages in blunt abdominal trauma. The aim of present study was to evaluate findings of CT scan with contrast in patient with blunt abdominal trauma. Methods: In this descriptive study, 290 patients with blunt abdominal trauma were studied who referred to emergency department of Imam-Reza Hospital of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in Tabriz, Iran, from June 2014 to June 2015. Abdominal and pelvic CT scan with contrast was done using 1 detector CT scan machine in three phases (arterial phase, portal-venous phase and a delayed phase). Patients’ demographic information, cause of trauma, and CT scan findings were collected. Results: Mean age of patients was 26.3 ± 8.15 years. Male to female ratio was 1 to 0.42. Most common causes of blunt abdominal trauma were traffic accidents in 65.5% of patients, fall from height in 24.1% patients, and fall of heavy objects in 10.4% patients. Among all the patients, 57.6% had a detectable damage based on CT scanning. Based on CT scan findings, most common injuries were spleen injury in 20.0% of patients, liver injury in 18.9% of patients, and kidney injury in 8.9%. Conclusion: Traffic accidents were the most common cause of blunt abdominal trauma. Spleen, liver, and kidney injury were the most common internal organ damages based on CT scan findings.

Keywords: Computed Tomography, Blunt, Abdominal Trauma