To outline the advantages and limits of MDCT angiography in abdominal bleeding and review the role of MDCT in suspected acute abdominal bleeding to detect organ injuries, vascular anomalies and the source of bleeding.

Acute abdominal bleeding is a common cause of morbidity and mortality. MDCT angiography is a first-line modality that may have a profund impact in the evaluation and treatment of patients who present with acute abdominal bleeding. We illustrate MDCT signs that may indicate the source of abdominal bleeding and help direct Management, such as centinela clot or extravasation of intravascular contrast material, and describe the main causes of acute abdominal bleeding.

INTRODUCTION With the introduction of multi–detector row CT, CT angiography has gained increasing acceptance for initial evaluation of patients who sustain major trauma and in suspected arterial injury. Recently, the growing widespread use of 64-row multidetector CT technology has offered considerable benefits in CT angiography in the trauma setting. Sixty-four–row multidetector CT enhances imaging speed and allows submillimeter isotropic data sets. CT angiography aids in the decision-making process to determine the appropriate treatment for each patient and injur. Contrast material–enhanced computed tomography (CT) is the...

MDCT provides, with short examination times, the essential anatomic and functional information necessary to determine abdominal injuries Contrast-enhanced MDCT is a rapid, noninvasive, and accurate in localizing acute abdominal bleeding in traumatic and in non-traumatic conditions It plays a complementary role to endoscopy for localization of obscure upper or lower GI-bleeding MDCT can be used as a guidance for subsequent angiographic intervention The main advantages of multidetector CT over single-detector CT are faster scanning times, increased volume coverage, and improved spatial and temporal resolution.

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