Ghulam Murtaza, Abid Bashir, Bid Rasheed, Riaz Hussain.
Blunt abdominal trauma; role of Ultrasonography vs four quadrant tap.
Professional Med J Jan ;12(1):59-63.

Objective: (1) To define the role of ultrasonography and four quadrant tap in deciding the treatment plan (conservative/operative) in blunt abdominal trauma. (2) To find out the specificity and sensitivity of ultrasonography and four quadrant tap in blunt abdominal trauma, Design: Prospective study. Setting: Allied Hospital Faisalabad. Period: From Jan 2001 to Jan 2002. Materials and methods: Fifty patients irrespective of age, sex and mode of blunt injury included in the study. All the patients presented in emergency ward with blunt abdominal trauma underwent ultrasonography & four quadrant tap. Results: In 30 out of 50(60%) patients, the abdominal ultrasonography showed positive findings with the sensitivity of 90.62%, the specificity 94.44% and accuracy 92%. Four quadrant tap was positive in 29 patients out of 50(58%) with 87.09% sensitivity, 89, 47% specificity and 88% accuracy. Conclusion: Four quadrant tap is as effective as ultrasonography to pick up the intra-peritoneal fluid in the assessment of blunt abdominal trauma patient but with slightly less sensitivity, specificity and accuracy.

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