Peritoneal lavage in closed abdominal injury.

Peritoneal lavage is a sensitive method of detecting intra-abdominal injuries following closed abdominal injury. Our indications for peritoneal lavage are: severe head injury, severe thoracic injury, unexplained hypotension in a patient with possible blunt abdominal injury and patients on artificial ventilation. We present 40 patients with multiple injuries who underwent peritoneal lavage for suspected closed abdominal injury. Twenty-two lavages were positive and 19 laparotomies were performed, of which 18 revealed intra-abdominal injuries. Eighteen lavages were negative; no laparotomy was performed in this group. There was one false positive, but no false negative lavage.