European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society
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Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg · Feb 2018
Multicenter StudyEarly computed tomography or focused assessment with sonography in abdominal trauma: what are the leading opinions?
The initial assessment of severely injured patients in the resuscitation room requires a systematic and quickly performed survey. Whereas the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS®)-based algorithm recommends focused assessment with sonography in trauma (FAST) among others, recent studies report a survival advantage of early whole-body computed tomography (WBCT) in haemodynamically stable as well as unstable patients. This study assessed the opinions of trauma surgeons about the early use of WBCT in severely injured patients with abdominal trauma, and abdominal CT in patients with isolated abdominal trauma, during resuscitation room treatment. ⋯ Most surgeons rely on early CT for haemodynamically stable patients with abdominal trauma, whereas FAST is performed with similar frequency and is prioritized in unstable patients. It seems that the results of recent studies supporting early WBCT have not yet found broad acceptance in the surgical community.