Isolated free intra-abdominal fluid on CT in blunt trauma: The continued diagnostic dilemma.

Purpose: The clinical significance of isolated free fluid (FF) without solid organ injury on computed to- mography (CT) continues to pose significant dilemma in the management of patients with blunt abdominal trauma (BAT).

Methods: We reviewed the incidence of FF and the clinical outcome amongst patients with blunt abdominal trauma in a metropolitan trauma service in South Africa. We performed a retrospective study of 121 consecutive CT scans over a period of 12 months to determine the incidence of isolated FF and the clinical outcome of patients managed in a large metropolitan trauma service.