Computerized axial tomography (CAT) of the abdomen was prospectively compared with peritoneal lavage (PL) in 19 @entity1 who sustained acute blunt @entity1661 . All were selected carefully and were deemed stable, never having been in shock, and all required diagnostic PL. Seven @entity1 underwent exploratory laparotomy on the basis of CAT and PL findings. There were no negative findings at laparotomy. Three significant @entity130 , one @entity99 , and two hemoperitoneums were undetected by CAT. All seven cases explored were preceded by a grossly positive PL. Thus no @entity130 would have been missed if PL had been used alone. There were no complications of PL but one @entity1 aspirated oral contrast medium and one @entity1 developed @entity551 during CAT. Open PL required one half the time (20.6 minutes) as CAT (47.4 minutes). The total cost of CAT was approximately eight times that of PL ( 900.01 versus  116.38). In our hands, PL would seem to be significantly more sensitive with fewer false negative results than CAT of the abdomen in acute blunt @entity1661 , a deviation from results of earlier reported series. CAT alone would have added cost, time, some risk, and very little information of use that would not be obtained by PL followed by surgery. Therefore before CAT replaces PL in the evaluation of adult @entity1 with blunt @entity1661 , we feel that additional prospective studies are needed to better define the accuracy and sensitivity of CAT as compared with PL with regard to intraperitoneal injuries.

The use of computerized axial tomography versus peritoneal lavage in the evaluation of blunt XXXX : a prospective study.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients', 'patient'] @entity99 :: ('MESH:D056486', 'Disease') :: ['hepatic laceration'] @entity1661 :: ('MESH:D000008', 'Disease') :: ['abdominal trauma'] @entity551 :: ('MESH:D007022', 'Disease') :: ['hypotension'] @entity130 :: ('MESH:D014947', 'Disease') :: ['splenic injuries', 'major injury']
@entity1661 :: (MESH:D000008,Disease) :: ['abdominal trauma']
