Utility of enteric contrast material in abdominal penetrating trauma: A narrative review

Abstract

Penetrating trauma is an important cause of morbidity and mortality. With the possibility of conservative management for hemodynamically stable trauma patient, computed tomography (CT) has become an important tool in diagnosis and management of penetrating trauma. There have been multiple studies examining the utility and lack of perceived benefit of using enteric contrast material in the initial CT evaluation. We provide a narrative review of the surgical and radiological literature, offer our own protocol for how to approach the imaging of patients with suspected bowel injury following penetrating traumatic injury and discuss the potential of using enteric contrast material.