Multidetector Computed Tomography Imaging of Damage Control Surgery Patients.

Damage control surgery is a staged surgical procedure in a patient who has suffered penetrating or blunt abdominal traumatic injury with severe metabolic derangements. Multidetector computed tomography scanning is a vital tool for patient management in the damage control patient, providing many uses, including assessing the extent of traumatic injury, evaluating areas that were not surgically explored, evaluating for injuries that were missed during the initial surgery, and assessing the stability of surgical repair. Understanding the postsurgical multidetector computed tomography appearance of these patients can aid the radiologist in protocol optimization and provide immediate accurate diagnoses.