Incidence of asymptomatic pulmonary embolism in moderately to severely injured trauma patients.

Background: Chest computed tomographic (CT) scanning is used frequently to evaluate symptomatic patients for pulmonary embolus (PE). The incidence of PE diagnosed by helical CT scanning in asymptomatic patients is unknown.

Methods: Asymptomatic trauma patients with an Injury Severity Score > or = 9 were studied with contrast-enhanced helical CT images of the chest, pelvis, and lower extremities.