Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Professor, Department of General Surgery, Government Medical College, Kozhikode, India
2 Junior Resident, Department of General Surgery, Government Medical College, Kozhikode, India.
Abstract
Background: Blunt abdominal trauma is the third most common cause of death resulting from trauma. The Blunt Trauma Scoring System (BATSS) was developed to diagnose intra-abdominal injuries and identify a select subset of patients for further investigations. This scoring system simplifies triage, reduces unnecessary computed tomography (CT) scans, minimizes radiation exposure, and lowers the costs associated with diagnosis and treatment.
Aim: To compare BATSS with Contrast-Enhanced Computed Tomography (CECT) of the abdomen in diagnosing blunt abdominal trauma among adults.
Patients and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on a population of 155 adult patients who presented to the general surgery casualty at Government Medical College, Kozhikode.
Results: Among the 155 patients, 89.7% were male. The BATSS and CECT identified intra-abdominal injuries in 90.3% (n=140) of the cases. Notably, all patients with intra-abdominal injury had a BATSS score greater than 8. The sensitivity and specificity of BATSS in diagnosing blunt abdominal trauma were found to be 100% and 97.3% respectively, with an optimal cutoff ROC curve value of 8.5. A BATSS score greater than 8 strongly predicts the presence of intra-abdominal injury.
Conclusion: BATSS, which incorporates clinical manifestations, pelvic fractures, and Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (FAST), is a highly precise and reliable diagnostic tool for detecting blunt abdominal trauma. It has the potential to reduce unnecessary CT scans and associated costs.
Keywords
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