T raumatic gastrointestinal tract (GIT) injuries are uncommon, representing less than 10% of all injuries in trauma patients (1), with a higher incidence in penetrating rather than blunt trauma (2). Small bowel is the most common site of alimentary tract injury in trauma followed by colorectal injuries, while gastroduodenal injuries comprise less than 2% of all injuries in trauma (3). In the current scenario of preferential nonoperative management in trauma, detection of GIT injury remains an important indication for urgent laparotomy as delayed diagnosis and surgery are associated with high morbidity and mortality (4). Also the type of operative management, prognosis, and outcome vary according to the number and site of GIT injuries (5).Multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) is a proven diagnostic modality for detection of traumatic GIT injuries with a reported sensitivity of 70%-95% and specificity of 92%-100% (6-11). Various CT signs of GIT and mesenteric injuries have been described such as bowel wall discontinuity, extraluminal air (either free or perivisceral), bowel wall thickening, abnormal bowel wall enhancement and intramural air, while mesenteric signs include mesenteric infiltration, active vascular contrast extravasation, beading, and abrupt termination of mesenteric vessels. These signs have reportedly variable incidences, sensitivities, and specificities; but if present, can lead prompt laparotomy and surgical exploration of the GIT to look for direct evidence of injury (12)(13)(14)(15)(16).MDCT with its capabilities of fast scanning, thin-section acquisition, and multiplanar reformatting has greatly enhanced the potential for detecting direct evidence of bowel in-
29From the Departments of Radiology (A.K. dratinkumar@gmail.com; A.P., S.G., R.D., S.P.) and Surgery (A.G., S.K.), Jai Prakash Narayana Apex Trauma Centre, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
E M E R G E N C Y R A D I O LO G Y O R I G I N A L A R T I C L E
PURPOSEWe aimed to assess the performance of computed tomography (CT) in localizing site of traumatic gastrointestinal tract (GIT) injury and determine the diagnostic value of CT signs in site localization.
METHODSCT scans of 97 patients with surgically proven GIT or mesenteric injuries were retrospectively reviewed by radiologists blinded to surgical findings. Diagnosis of either GIT or mesenteric injuries was made. In patients with GIT injuries, site of injury and presence of CT signs such as focal bowel wall hyperenhancement, hypoenhancement, wall discontinuity, wall thickening, extramural air, intramural air, perivisceral infiltration, and active vascular contrast leak were evaluated.
RESULTSOut of 97 patients, 90 had GIT injuries (70 single site injuries and 20 multiple site injuries) and seven had isolated mesenteric injury. The overall concordance between CT and operative findings for exact site localization was 67.8% (61/90), partial concordance rate was 11.1% (10/90), and discordance rate was 21.1% (19/90). For single site localization, concordance...