Abstract
Introduction: Approximately one third of stable patients with significant intra-abdominal injury do not have significant intraperitoneal blood evident on admission. We hypothesized that a delayed, repeat ultrasound study (Secondary Ultrasound - SUS) will reveal additional intra-abdominal injuries and hemoperitoneum. Methods: We performed a prospective observational study of trauma patients at our Level I trauma center from April 2003 to December 2003. Patients underwent an initial ultrasound (US), followed by a SUS examination within 24 hours of admission. Patients not eligible for a SUS because of early discharge, operative intervention or death were excluded. All US and SUS exams were performed and evaluated by surgical/emergency medicine house staff or surgical attendings. Results: Five hundred forty-seven patients had both an initial US and a SUS examination. The sensitivity of the initial US in this patient population was 31.1% and increased to 72.1% on SUS (p < 0.001) for intra-abdominal injury or intra-abdominal fluid. The specificity for the initial US was 99.8% and 99.8% for SUS. The negative predictive value was 92.0% for the initial US and increased to 96.6% for SUS (p = 0.002). The accuracy of the initial ultrasound was 92.1% and increased to 96.7% on the SUS (p < 0.002). No patient with a negative SUS after 4 hours developed clinically significant hemoperitoneum. Conclusion: A secondary ultrasound of the abdomen significantly increases the sensitivity of ultrasound to detect intra-abdominal injury.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 934-938 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Journal of Trauma - Injury, Infection and Critical Care |
Volume | 57 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2004 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Ultrasound Blunt Abdominal Trauma Prospective study
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Surgery