The Current Diagnostic Accuracy on Free Peritoneal Fluid in Computed Tomography to Determinate the Necessity of Surgery in Blunt Bowel and Mesenteric Trauma—Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis

Traumatic bowel mesenteric injury (TBMI) is a challenge in trauma care. The presence of free peritoneal fluid (FF) in computed tomography (CT) was considered the indication for surgical intervention. However, conservative treatment should be applied for minor injuries. We conduct a systematic review to analyze how reliable the FF is to assess the TBMI. Publications were retrieved by structured searching among databases, review articles and major textbooks. For statistical analysis, summary receiver operating characteristic curves (SROCs) were computed using hierarchical models. Fourteen studies enrolling 4336 patients were eligible for final qualitative analysis. The SROC line was created by a hierarchical summary receiver operating characteristic model. The summary sensitivity of FF to predict surgical TBMI was 0.793 (95% CI: 0.635–0.894), and the summary specificity of FF to predict surgical TBMI was 0.733 (95% CI: 0.468–0.896). The diagnostic odds ratio was 10.531 (95% CI: 5.556–19.961). This study represents the most robust evidence (level 3a) to date that FF is not the absolute but an acceptable indicator for surgically important TBMI. However, there is still a need for randomized controlled trials to confirm.