The value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound in vascular injury from blunt abdominal trauma in solid organs: Comparison with multidetector computed tomography using angiography as the reference standard

Abstract

To evaluate the accuracy of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for assessing vascular injury from blunt abdominal trauma in solid organs using angiography as the reference standard and to compare it with contrast-enhanced multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). Forty-nine patients with 52 blunt abdominal trauma lesions who underwent CEUS, MDCT, and angiography were enrolled in this retrospective study. Injuries included the liver (n = 23), kidney (n = 10), and spleen (n = 19). Vascular injury in solid organs was classified into 3 types: isolated pseudoaneurysm, pseudoaneurysm with low-velocity extravasation, and active bleeding. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and accuracy of CEUS and MDCT for the detection and classification of vascular injury in solid organs were calculated based on angiography. The receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of each test was performed and compared. Thirty-nine vascular injuries in solid organs were detected and classified into 9 isolated pseudoaneurysms, 9 pseudoaneurysms with low-velocity extravasation, and 21 active bleeding based on angiography as the reference standard. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy for bleeding detection were 97.44%, 100.00%, 100.00%, 92.86%, and 98.08%, respectively, for CEUS and MDCT. The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of classification (isolated pseudoaneurysm vs. pseudoaneurysm with low-velocity extravasation or active bleeding) of bleeding were 96.67%, 87.50%, 96.67%, 87.50%, and 94.74%, respectively, for CEUS and 100.00%, 75.00%, 93.75%, 100.00%, and 94.74%, respectively, for MDCT. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curves of CEUS and MDCT for bleeding detection was 0.987, and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curves for CEUS and MDCT bleeding classification were 0.921 and 0.875, respectively. CEUS and MDCT exhibited comparable consistency with angiography for detecting and classifying vascular injury from blunt abdominal trauma in solid organs. Therefore, CEUS may be an accurate and rapid imaging tool to detect bleeding and determine the need for transcatheter arterial embolization. We suggest that CEUS could be considered a first-line approach during the preparation time before MDCT to determine the appropriate management for blunt abdominal trauma.