Patients with sudden worsening of abdominal pain in the days following injury should be suspected of having a ruptured solid organ hematoma or a delayed hollow viscus perforation, particularly if they have tachycardia and/or hypotension. Diagnostic peritoneal lavage is a controversial technique but can be used to detect injury to abdominal organs: a catheter is placed in the peritoneal cavity, and if fluid is present, it is aspirated and examined for blood or evidence of organ rupture. The spleen is the organ damaged most commonly, followed by the liver and a hollow viscus (typically the small intestine). For the majority of patients who do not require immediate surgery but who have intra-abdominal injuries identified during imaging, management options include observation, angiographic embolization, and less frequently operative intervention. Abdominal guarding is a tensing of the abdominal wall muscles to guard inflamed organs within the abdomen. Any help would be SOOO very appreciated !! Holcomb JB, Tilley BC, Baraniuk S, et al: Transfusion of plasma, platelets, and red blood cells in a 1:1:1 vs a 1:1:2 ratio and mortality in patients with severe trauma. Pain from splenic injury sometimes radiates to the left shoulder. Has anyone done this? Abdominal trauma is an injury to the abdomen.Signs and symptoms include abdominal pain, tenderness, rigidity, and bruising of the external abdomen. Someone on another forum saw a wound on the abdomen of her T and superglue the Ts butt shut. Pain from a small intestinal perforation typically is minimal initially but steadily worsens over the first few hours. The FAST images the pericardium, right and left upper quadrants, and pelvis; its primary aim is to find abnormal pericardial fluid or intraperitoneal free fluid. Once multiorgan dysfunction develops, the only way to prevent mortality is to decompress the abdominal contents, typically with a laparotomy. Patients are then stabilized in the ICU and taken for packing removal and definitive repair once normal physiology has been restored (particularly correction of pH and temperature), typically within 24 hours—or sooner if they deteriorate clinically despite resuscitation. Bowel obstruction rarely develops in weeks to years after injury due to intestinal wall hematoma or adhesions caused by intestinal serosal or mesenteric tears. Abdominal distention after trauma typically indicates severe hemorrhage (2 to 3 L), but distention may not be apparent even in patients who have lost several units of blood. Other affected organs include the, Lungs (elevated abdominal pressure can interfere with respiration, causing hypoxemia and hypercarbia), Cardiovascular system (elevated abdominal pressure decreases venous return from the lower extremities, causing hypotension), Central nervous system (intracranial pressure increases, possibly due to rise in central venous pressure preventing adequate venous drainage from brain, decreasing cerebral perfusion, which can worsen intracranial injuries).