Peritoneal lavage in abdominal trauma: a prospective study comparing the peritoneal dialysis catheter with the intracatheter

Abstract

The accuracy of peritoneal lavage in identifying significant intra-abdominal injury using a peritoneal dialysis catheter approaches 96%. The intracatheter, however, has frequently been substituted in the procedure with expectations of equal reliability. Our randomized prospective study compared the efficacy, accuracy, and safety of these two catheters. Although the complication rate was insignificant in both groups, the intracatheter was associated with technical difficulties in 46% of the patients compared to a rate of only 9% when the dialysis catheter was employed.