Gastric traumatic injuries: CT findings.

OBJECTIVE

Gastric blunt traumatic injuries are uncommon and their radiological appearance has been infrequently reported in medical literature. These injuries are difficult to diagnose preoperatively, though they require immediate recognition to minimize their otherwise high mortality and morbidity. The aim of our study is to describe the radiological appearance of blunt gastric traumatic injuries.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

Retrospective evaluation of a 25 patients series observed between January 1997 and May 2005.

RESULTS

We observed rupture of the stomach in 20% of cases, in 44% of cases a partial lesion of the stomach, in one case a necrotic post-traumatic volvulus, five patients (20%) had benign portal pneumatosis, in three patients the stomach was secondarily involved because of a diaphragmatic hernia. The fundus resulted to be the most frequently damaged part of the stomach (80%).

CONCLUSIONS

Blunt traumatic injuries need a careful and systematic approach given their economical and social relevance. For these reasons uncommon lesions require attention and may be important to search for specific findings of gastric lesions.