[The radiologist physician in major trauma evaluation].

BACKGROUND: Trauma is the most common cause of death in young adults. A multidisciplinary trauma team consists of at least a surgical team, an anesthesiology team, radiologic team, and an emergency department team.
OBJECTIVE: Recognize the integration of multidisciplinary medical team in managing the trauma patient and which must include the radiologist physician responsible for the institutional approach to the systematization of the trauma patient regarding any radiological and imaging study with emphasis on the FAST (del inglés, Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma)/USTA, Whole body computed tomography.
METHODS: Ultrasound is a cross-sectional method available for use in patients with major trauma. Whole-body multidetector computed tomography became the imaging modality of choice in the late 1990s.
RESULTS: In patients with major trauma, examination FAST often is the initial imaging examination, extended to extraabdominal regions. Patients who have multitrauma from blunt mechanisms often require multiple diagnostic examinations, including Computed Tomography imaging of the torso as well as abdominopelvic Computed Tomography angiography.
CONCLUSIONS: Multiphasic Whole-body trauma imaging is feasible, helps detect clinically relevant vascular injuries, and results in diagnostic image quality in the majority of patients. Computed Tomography has gained importance in the early diagnostic phase of trauma care in the emergency room. With a single continuous acquisition, whole-body computed tomography angiography is able to demonstrate all potentially injured organs, as well as vascular and bone structures, from the circle of Willis to the symphysis pubis.