CT Abdominal Trauma - Video Lesson

Hey everybody, welcome back. In this lesson, we're discussing abdominal trauma that is commonly demonstrated with CT imaging. First, we'll discuss solid organ lacerations. Trauma can cause injuries to any of the organs within the abdominal and pelvic cavities, but injuries to the solid organs are the most common. A solid organ laceration is a traumatic tear in the parenchyma of the solid organs of the abdomen, including the liver, spleen, or kidneys, usually caused by blunt or penetrating trauma. Sometimes this kind of injury is called a fracture because the organ is broken apart. Sometimes these organ lacerations can be seen without contrast, but usually IV contrast administration is necessary to really see and define the injury. They typically present as irregular contrast enhancement within the parenchyma. Related findings may include hematoma or contrast extravasation. There are many conditions that can cause irregular contrast enhancement, but we're really looking for patches of the organ parenchyma that