Introduction:

Total body tomography (CT) in the evaluation of patients with severe trauma may be an effective and safe tool to decide between a surgical or non-operative management, but the diagnostic implications and risks associated with this technique are still unclear.

Methods:

Patients older than 15 years with severe trauma who underwent total CT were included. Safety, effectiveness and efficiency were evaluated through the parameters of incidence of contrast-induced nephropathy, total radiation dose per patient, proportion of cases in which the total CT changed the management, and the delay in the diagnosis.

Results:

263 patients were included, 83% presented with blunt trauma and 17% with penetrating trauma. The severity of the injury was higher in the latter, however, the blunt trauma with hemodynamic instability presented with higher degrees of shock. Non-operative management was selected in 65% of patients. Among the subgroups, there was no significant difference in the time between admission to the emergency room and taking the total CT (p=0.96), and in most cases, the time between the total CT and the diagnosis of presence or absence of injury was less than 25 minutes. The median total radiation was below than 20 mSv in all groups. There were no significant difference in mortality (p=0.170.

Conclusion:

Total CT is a safe and efficient tool to decide between a surgical and a non-operative management in patients with severe trauma, regardless of the mechanism of injury or hemodynamic stability at admission.

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