Open and percutaneous paracentesis and lavage for abdominal trauma: a randomized prospective study.

To compare the accuracy and safety of open abdominal paracentesis and lavage vs percutaneous paracentesis and lavage, 210 consecutive patients were prospectively randomized into two groups of 105 each. There were no false-negative diagnoses in either group. The accuracy rate for the open method was 98.1%, and 91.4% for the percutaneous method. Six major complications were encountered with the percutaneous method, for a complication rate of 5.7% compared with no major complications with the open method. The results suggest that the open technique is superior to the percutaneous method.