Diagnosis of abdominal abscesses in patients with major trauma: the use of computed tomography.

Abstract

The usefulness of computed tomography (CT) in diagnosing abdominal abscesses was evaluated prospectively in 69 septic patients who had suffered massive trauma. For the 82 abdominal CT scans obtained, the accuracy rate was 84%, the sensitivity was 92%, and the specificity was 79%. With the use of abdominal CT, 32 patients were spared a "blind" laparotomy in the search for the focus of infection. It is concluded that CT is of significant value in the diagnosis of abdominal abscess in the septic trauma patient.