Accuracy of clinical, laboratory, and computed tomography findings for identifying hollow viscus injury in blunt trauma patients with unexplained intraperitoneal free fluid without solid organ injury

BackgroundWe sought to define the accuracy of findings for detecting hollow viscus injury (HVI) in patients with blunt abdominal trauma (BAT) and unexplained intra-peritoneal free fluid without solid organ injury (UIPFFWSOI).MethodsWe screened all consecutive hemodynamically stable patients presenting to a quaternary-care trauma-centre who had an abdominal computed tomography (CT) scan for BAT and UIPFFWSOI (January 2007-December 2014).ResultsOf 3796 patients identified during the study period, 39 presented with UIPFFWSOI. Fifteen underwent therapeutic laparotomy. Seatbelt sign (+LR approaches infinity), diffuse peritonitis (+LR approaches infinity), number of CT cuts with fluid (c-statistic = 0.65), and a lower arterial pH at presentation (c-statistic = 0.62) were most predictive of HVI. Patients operated on within 24 h had shorter stays than those operated on later (median 9 vs. 14 days, p = 0.03).ConclusionsOur findings suggest that clinical examination and measurements of intraperitoneal fluid volume may help identify HVIs in BAT patients.