The primary objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of hepatic steatosis in a Colombian adult population. A retrospective, descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted on a population sample of 384 patients who were attended due to abdominal trauma with indication for contrast-enhanced abdominal tomography. A diagnostic cutoff point for steatosis was considered as a difference of -20 HU between hepatic and splenic density in the portal phase.

After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 331 patients were selected. Sixty-two patients were identified with hepatic steatosis, of whom 44 were men and 18 were women. A point prevalence of 18.7% for hepatic steatosis was identified in the selected sample. Patients were classified into three age groups: under 30 years with 26/154 positive cases, between 30 and 50 years with 27/118 positive cases, and over 50 years with 9/59 positive cases. Conclusions. The prevalence of hepatic steatosis identified in this study is lower than that reported at the national, South American, and global levels. This result could be related to the selection of a predominantly young adult population without relevant medical history, and the use of more sensitive and specific cutoff points in contrast-enhanced tomography. A high percentage of young patients were identified with hepatic steatosis, implying the need to develop better public health strategies.