Clinical Policy: Critical Issues in the Evaluation
of Adult Patients Presenting to the Emergency
Department With Acute Blunt Abdominal Trauma
October 9, 2003

Patient Evaluation Recommendations: What is the diagnostic
performance of CT in diagnosing significant intra-abdominal
injuries requiring intervention in blunt abdominal trauma?

Level B recommendations. When either liver or spleen
injury is suspected, CT can reliably exclude injuries
that require emergent operative intervention. CT alone
cannot be used to exclude either bowel, diaphragm, or
pancreas injury.
Abdominal CT accurately identifies hemoperitoneum
among patients with blunt abdominal trauma.