TY  - JOUR
T1  - DIagnostic errors with peritoneal lavage in patients with pelvic fractures
AU  - Hubbard SG, Bivins BA, Sachatello CR, Griffen WO, Jr
Y1  - 1979/07/01
N1  - 10.1001/archsurg.1979.01370310086015
JO  - Archives of Surgery
SP  - 844
EP  - 846
VL  - 114
IS  - 7
N2  - • Diagnostic peritoneal lavage, considered to be a highly accurate technique for detecting intraperitoneal blood in the trauma patient, may be less reliable in the presence of a pelvic fracture. In a retrospective review of 222 patients with pelvic fractures, 61 patients were found who had had a diagnostic peritoneal lavage performed as part of the initial evaluation of their condition. Twenty-six of these patients had had a negative lavage result. There had been no false-negative results in this group, although six patients required operations for extraperitoneal injuries. Of the 35 patients with a positive lavage result, 10 (29%) were found to have false-positive lavage results with no intraperitoneal source of bleeding. The only deaths in this series occurred in the group requiring operations, eight of 41 (20%). Four of the eight deaths were due to uncontrollable bleeding that resulted from exploration of the retroperitoneal hematoma. These data suggest that a negative lavage result is highly reliable in the patient with a pelvic fracture and should allow management with confidence that there is no severe intraperitoneal injury. Positive lavage results, however, must be interpreted with caution.(Arch Surg 114:844-846, 1979)
SN  - 0004-0010
M3  - doi: 10.1001/archsurg.1979.01370310086015
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archsurg.1979.01370310086015
ER  -