Introduction:

In recent years there have been profound changes in the management of poly-traumatized patients. At the same time, new concepts have been developed in relation to possible complications, treatment schemes and prognostic scales, as well as in the identification of elements related with its evolution to early determine the life-threatening lesions and require immediate surgical control or radiological intervention. Multislice computed tomography and other imaging studies allow obtaining images of body structures by planes and provide very detailed and useful information for the diagnosis; nevertheless there is no consensus when it comes to indicating one or the other in trauma.

Objective:

To develop an algorithm for the efficient indication of imaging study in the poly-traumatized patient.

Materials and methods:

A technological development research was carried out, where the working universe was made up by 43 patients with polytrauma criteria -who needed imaging studies- admitted to the Clinical Surgical University Hospital Faustino Perez, in the period between March 2020 and March 2021.

Results:

An algorithm was developed for standardizing the indication of imaging studies in trauma. This work considers the safety and protection of the patient, and the care of the life of the computed axial tomography equipment.

Conclusions:

The developed algorithm enables decision-making regarding the use of imaging resources in the care of poly-traumatized patients.

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