ABSTRACT
Objective To compare the accuracy of diagnostic peritoneal lavage (DPL),abdominal computed tomographic(CT) scanning,and abdominal B ultrasound for the diagnosis of blunt abdominal trauma. Methods Prospective study was made on 61 hemodynamically stable abdominal injury patients.The patients received both CT and B ultrasound before DPL ,A laparotomy was done on the condition that one of the three examinations had positive finding.The surgical findings were compared with that of the diagnostic studies. Results The sensitivity,specificity and accuracy were 97.4%,81.7% and 91.8% for DPL; 97.3% 91.3% ,and 95.1% for CT;and 92.3%,90.9% and 91.8% for B ultrasound.Although the sesitivity,specificity,and accuracy of B ultrasound in the diagnosis of blunt abdominal trauma were similar to DPL and CT, B ultrasound had more advantages than DPL and CT. Conclusions B ultrasound can replace DPL.CT as a supplementary method in the diagnosis of blunt abdominal trauma.