This is a basic article for medical students and other non-radiologists
CT abdomen is an increasingly common investigation that is used to help make diagnoses of a broad range of pathologies. A CT abdomen in its simplest form is a CT from diaphragm to symphysis pubis performed 60 seconds after pump-injection of iodinated contrast into a peripheral vein. However, depending on the clinical question, a variety of different protocols can be used.
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Reference article
This is a summary article; we do not have a more in-depth reference article.
Summary
-
indications
- abdominal pain
- abdominal sepsis
- bowel obstruction
- postoperative complications
- trauma
- vascular compromise, e.g. aortic aneurysm
-
important pathology
- bowel obstruction
- bowel perforation
- colon cancer
- intra-abdominal trauma
-
benefits
- relatively quick and accessible
- reproducible findings
- complete assessment of the abdomen and pelvis
-
limitations
- uses ionizing radiation
- risk of radiation-induced cancer
- approximately 100 times the dose of a chest radiograph
- requires iodinated IV contrast
- risk of renal impairment
- risk of anaphylactic reaction
- uses ionizing radiation
-
procedure
- check renal function
- lie patient supine on CT table
- scout image to plan study
- IV contrast injected via pump-injector
- 60-second delay
- scan from dome of diaphragms to symphysis pubis
-
variations on a theme
- differing the IV contrast injection and timing may be useful
- dual-phase CT abdomen
- two scans (one arterial and one portovenous)
- assessment of vascular supply and parenchyma
- dual-bolus CT abdomen
- two injections of contrast
- single scan of the abdomen
- great in trauma and oncology imaging
- CT pancreas
- 3-phase non-contrast, arterial and portovenous
- dual-phase CT abdomen
- differing the IV contrast injection and timing may be useful
Similar tests
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US abdomen
- useful for assessment of liver, kidneys and biliary system
- dependent on operator and patient body habitus
- CT angiogram
- vascular assessment of the arterial tree only
- non-contrast CT abdomen
- used when contrast is contraindicated
- used for the assessment of renal stones, e.g. CT KUB or characterizing adrenal lesions
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