Value of computed tomography in traumatic pancreatitis in children.

Only a few previous reports have stressed the value of computed tomography (CT) in traumatic pancreatitis in children. Three children with blunt upper abdominal trauma are presented, two of them had operatively confirmed pancreatic injury while in the third the clinical course confirmed the early exclusion of such injury at CT examination. A meteoristic abdomen, as is frequently present in acutely injured children, limited the early usefulness of ultrasound (US) in one of the patients. In all 3 patients, CT examination yielded important information. US proved easy to perform and reliable in the follow-up of complications such as pseudocysts.