Dog ear sign (abdomen)

Last revised by Daniel J Bell on 23 Apr 2019

The dog ear sign represents the presence of fluid or blood in the pelvic peritoneal recess on a supine abdominal radiograph. The appearance of the sign comes from a convex soft-tissue density representing fluid or blood in the lateral pelvic peritoneal recess separated from the bladder by a thin hyperlucent strip of extraperitoneal fat which is reminiscent of dog ears.

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