Benign Posttraumatic Pseudopneumoperitoneum

OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to retrospectively determine the anatomic distribution of chest wall ectopic gas resembling pneumoperitoneum (i.e., pseudopneumoperitoneum) and its relationship with trauma mechanisms and clinical outcomes using CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Investigators from two separate trauma referral centers screened 492 chest, abdomen, and pelvis CT examinations of patients who had sustained any form of trauma between 2010 and 2015. After excluding 186 patients with recognized causes of ectopic gas, 306 patients (211 men and 95 women; mean age, 44.5 years; range, 6–95 years) remained for analysis by two radiology residents in center 1 and a radiology resident in center 2. Positive cases were reviewed by all investigators, including an experienced fellowship-trained abdominal radiologist. The anatomic location of the pseudopneumoperitoneum, injury severity score, trauma velocity (high speed vs low or unknown speed), trauma mechanism, clinical findings on follow-up, and explorato...