Application of Computed Tomography in the Identification of Hollow Viscus Injuries in Blunt Trauma Patients

Abstract

Purpose: Despite advances in diagnostic and imaging technologies, the diagnosis of traumatic hollow viscus injury (HVI) remains a great challenge in clinical practice. This study aimed to determine the accuracy of computed tomography (CT) in the diagnosis of HVI in emergent blunt trauma patients.Methods: The study was conducted on patients with abdominal trauma who were admitted to our center, regional emergency center, Kyung Hee University Medical Center, between January 2008 and December 2018. The clinical data of patients with abdominal trauma who underwent CT and abdominal surgery within 24 hours of hospitalization were analyzed to determine the diagnostic capacity of CT.Results: In total, 156 patients were included in the study. There were 88 cases of blunt trauma. Among these patients, 27 were diagnosed with HVI using CT, and 38 patients were diagnosed with HVI in the operating room. The median injury severity score for these patients was 10.0, the revised trauma score was 7.841, and the trauma injury severity score was 0.96. The sensitivity and specificity of CT in predicting HVI in these patients were 65.8%, and 96.0%, respectively. The positive and negative predictive values were 92.6%, and 78.7%, respectively.Conclusion: In urgent situations, CT findings alone are insufficient for diagnosing HVI. Further research on the HVI diagnostic capacity of CT is required.