Postoperative pneumoperitoneum on computed tomography: is the operation to blame?

Natural History of Pneumoperitoneum After Laparotomy: Findings on Multidetector‐Row Computed Tomography

“…In our study, the type and duration of surgical procedure did not correlate with the presence and the volume of PP, supporting the assumption that PP can be attributed to the retention of ambient room air during closure of the laparotomy [24]. Also, we did not find any differences in the prevalence of PP according to the size of the abdominal incision, whereas other researchers observed that PP was smaller and of short duration after laparoscopic procedures performed through very small incisions [31]. However, one must consider that laparoscopy is performed using carbon dioxide, which is more rapidly absorbed than ambient room air after laparotomy, thus explaining variations in PP volumes during the postoperative course [25,32].…”