Blunt trauma

Blunt abdominal trauma commonly results from either a compression force or a deceleration injury. It has greater mortality than penetrating as there is often injury to multiple organ systems.

There are a number of classical injury patterns, which occur following common mechanisms of injury such as rapid deceleration while wearing a lap-only seat belt, or after direct impact with a car steering wheel. Recognition and understanding of these patterns will aid subsequent assessment.

The spleen and liver are the most commonly injured intraperitoneal organs in blunt trauma.

Injury to intraperitoneal structures should be considered when evaluating any injury which occurs between the nipple line and the pelvis.