Computed tomography and post-laparotomy intra-abdominal abscesses.

Thirty-one patients were prospectively studied and had abdominal computed tomography for post laparotomy sepsis. Computed tomography is of particular interest in seriously ill post-operative patients, 15 of our patients were on ventilators, and it enabled diagnosis and localization of abscesses in 15 patients. Drainage could therefore be achieved via a limited surgical approach, and extensive laparotomy was avoided. Of 16 patients without abscess, the abdominal computed tomogram was negative in 14 cases and there were two false positives. The overall accuracy was 0.94 with a sensitivity of 1 and a specificity of 0.88. The ability to screen the whole abdomen and exactly localize the lesion are the advantages of this non-invasive method.