The Surgical clinics of North America
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Computed tomography has become an important adjunct in the evaluation of the patient with blunt abdominal trauma. It provides quantitative information about hemoperitoneum as well as qualitative information about the source of hemoperitoneum. ⋯ This technique should be applied only to stable patients and only in institutions with up-to-date equipment, a committed radiology and surgery staff, and appropriate monitoring equipment in the CT suite. If proper technique is used, then high-quality scans can be obtained which, if interpreted by experienced personnel in the light of the clinical findings, can improve our management of selected trauma patients.
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Acute surgical emergencies of gynecologic origin occur for the most part in women of reproductive age but occasionally in newborn and adolescent patients and rarely in the postmenopausal patient. The most common and most important conditions to be considered include pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) with abscess, ectopic pregnancy, hemorrhage from a functional ovarian cyst, and adnexal or ovarian torsion.