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Traumatic abdominal aortic injury: clinical considerations for the diagnostic radiologist

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Abstract

Traumatic abdominal aortic injury (TAAI) is a severe complication of penetrating and blunt trauma with significant morbidity and mortality, particularly if diagnosis is delayed. In patients with life-threatening injuries, accurate and prompt diagnosis of TAAI can be made with computed tomography (CT). Once the diagnosis of TAAI is made, the radiologist should provide an accurate description of the aortic lesion and the extent of injury in order to guide management whether it be non-operative, open aortic repair, or endoluminal stent repair. The purpose of this article is to review the key imaging aspects of TAAI and to discuss how the key CT imaging findings affect clinical management.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, 510 S. Kingshighway, St. Louis, MO, 63108, USA

    Richard Tsai, Demetrios Raptis, Constantine Raptis & Vincent M. Mellnick

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  1. Richard Tsai
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  2. Demetrios Raptis
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  3. Constantine Raptis
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  4. Vincent M. Mellnick
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Correspondence to Richard Tsai.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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This is a review article and not a study involving procedures on human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

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Tsai, R., Raptis, D., Raptis, C. et al. Traumatic abdominal aortic injury: clinical considerations for the diagnostic radiologist. Abdom Radiol 43, 1084–1093 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-018-1523-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00261-018-1523-2

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