&NA;Loss of sensory, motor, and reflex function during spinal shock obscures the usual signs of significant blunt abdominal trauma. In a retrospective study of ten acutely quadriplegic patients, initial physical findings, vital signs, and hematocrit determinations were not found to be helpful in detecting intra‐abdominal injury. Diagnostic peritoneal lavage was an accurate indicator of the presence or absence of significant intraperitoneal hemorrhage in all ten cases in this series.