RT Book, Section
A1 Reichman, Eric F.
SR Print(0)
ID 57706818
T1 Chapter 66. Diagnostic Peritoneal Lavage
T2 Emergency Medicine Procedures, 2e
YR 2013
FD 2013
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-161352-1
LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=57706818
RD 2024/04/18
AB The  diagnostic  peritoneal  lavage  (DPL)  was  first  described  in  1965  by  Root  who  described  a  method  for  sampling  the  peritoneal  cavity  to  determine  more  rapidly  the  presence  of  a  hemoperitoneum  after  trauma.1  The  initial  physical  examination  can  be  misleading  in  up  to  45%  of  blunt  trauma  patients.2  A  DPL  can  be  useful  in  diagnosing  abdominal  injury  in  a  timely  fashion.2  It  is  performed  less  frequently  today  due  to  the  use  of  focused  abdominal  sonography  for  trauma  (FAST)  bedside  ultrasound  scanning  and  helical  computed  tomography  (CT).  The  DPL  is  the  only  invasive  test  of  the  three  and  remains  the  most  sensitive  test  for  mesenteric  and  hollow  viscus  injuries.3,4