Peritoneal Lavage Trauma

How to Subscribe
MLS & MLT Comprehensive CE Package
Includes 176 CE courses, most popular
$109Add to cart
Pick Your Courses
Up to 8 CE hours
$55Add to cart
Individual course$25Add to cart
Need multiple seats for your university or lab? Get a quote
The page below is a sample from the LabCE course Body Fluid Differential Tutorial. Access the complete course and earn ASCLS P.A.C.E.-approved continuing education credits by subscribing online.

Learn more about Body Fluid Differential Tutorial (online CE course)
Peritoneal Lavage Trauma

Peritoneal lavage is performed in the trauma setting to evaluate the extent of a patient's injury from blunt force trauma to the chest and abdomen. Sterile physiological saline is infused into the peritoneal cavity and then retrieved. The color and clarity of the extracted fluid provides information on the extent of internal injuries, if present. Bloody fluid indicates organ laceration and hemorrhage. Muddy brown fluid indicates a bowel perforation.
The image on this page is a Wright-stained smear from a peritoneal lavage specimen. The specimen was collected from a child who was in a motor vehicle accident. The child was not in a safety seat and her large intestine was ruptured when she hit the seat-back in front of her. The arrows indicate a variety of intra- and extracellular bacteria, and possibly small yeast forms. These organisms represent the normal intracolonic flora, which seeded the peritoneal cavity when her bowel ruptured.