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Traumatic Retroperitoneal Injuries: Review of Multidetector CT Findings¹

¹ From the Department of Radiology, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Va. Presented as an education exhibit at the 2006 RSNA Annual Meeting. Received June 21, 2007; revision requested December 11; final revision received April 1, 2008; accepted April 2. S.B.G. is on the advisory board of Onex (Carestream Health) and with the speakers’ bureau of GE Healthcare; all remaining authors have no financial relationships to disclose. Address correspondence to K.P.D., Department of Radiology, Tufts Medical Center, 800 Washington St, Box 299, Boston, MA 02111 (e-mail: kevinpdaly{at}gmail.com).

Multidetector computed tomography (CT) represents a significant advance in CT technology and can allow the accurate assessment of trauma patients, including the detection of traumatic retroperitoneal injuries, many of which are clinically occult. Retroperitoneal injuries include duodenal, pancreatic, vascular, renal, and adrenal injuries. Abnormal blood, fluid, or air within the retroperitoneal spaces may be isolated findings but can also occur in association with these injuries, and their recognition is the key to correctly identifying the injury. Accurate characterization of injury with CT can affect clinical management and can help minimize unnecessary laparotomies. Equivocal findings at initial abdominal CT should prompt close clinical follow-up with possible imaging follow-up, particularly for suspected occult duodenal and pancreatic injuries.

© RSNA, 2008