The role of the radiologist in the management of politrauma patients.

The management of trauma patients has become a very relevant issue and one of the major challenges in the western countries. In the assessment of politrauma patients, since the last 2 decades, radiological imaging methods have been increasingly used in order to provide a quick and thorough survey of craniocerebral, cervical, abdominal, pelvic and limb traumatic injuries. Among imaging methods, conventional radiographs (CR) have precise but limited indications. In most European hospitals, UltraSonography (US) represents the method of choice for patients referred following blunt abdominal trauma, whereas multislice computed tomography (MSCT) remains a second-line method of investigation, although it provides a fully comprehensive assessment of their injuries and allows for their categorization according to the severity of traumatic injuries. In fact, injury prevalence, radiation dose exposure, and costs represent important considerations in all of the emergency departments, where a growing number of patients seeking medical attention is seen.