We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. This includes personalizing content and advertising. To learn more, click here. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies. Cookie Policy.

Features Partner Sites Information LinkXpress
Sign In
Advertise with Us
GLOBETECH PUBLISHING LLC

Download Mobile App




Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Suspected Appendicitis in Children Deemed Effective Front-Line Tool

By MedImaging International staff writers
Posted on 17 Feb 2014
Print article
Image: A recent study showed portable ultrasound used as a first-line imaging tool in children with suspected appendicitis helps cut emergency room length of stay and reduces the need for computed tomography (CT) scanning (Photo courtesy of James W. Tsung, M.D / Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai).
Image: A recent study showed portable ultrasound used as a first-line imaging tool in children with suspected appendicitis helps cut emergency room length of stay and reduces the need for computed tomography (CT) scanning (Photo courtesy of James W. Tsung, M.D / Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai).
Portable ultrasound used as a first-line imaging tool in children with suspected appendicitis helps cut emergency room length of stay and reduces the need for computed tomography (CT) scanning. Bedside ultrasound, also known to as point-of-care (POC) ultrasonography, has a specificity of about 94%, according to recent research.

The study’s findings were published online February 2014 in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine. “From an institutional perspective, this is the most common surgical problem that we encounter with children in the emergency department,” said the study’s senior author, James W. Tsung, MD, MPH, associate professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (New York, NY, USA). “CT scans have been the best imaging test for diagnosing appendicitis, but they expose children to radiation, which cumulatively can prove harmful, as increasing numbers of studies have shown.”

Several studies have reported lifetime risks of cancer from abdominal and pelvis CT scanning in children results in one cancer death for every 500 to 3,000 CT scans ordered, depending on age and sex. Efforts to try to reduce the four million radiation-emitting CT scans obtained in children annually are underway, led by front-line radiologists, physicians, and radiologic professional societies. “CT scanning rate was reduced by over 35%, from a 44% CT scan rate prior to the study to a 27% rate during the study,” commented Ee Tay, MD, assistant professor of emergency medicine and pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and the study’s second author.

Investigators, in their research, used a prospective observational sample of 150 children seen consecutively between May 1, 2011 and October 1, 2012 in an urban pediatric emergency department. All children were under evaluation for suspected appendicitis. Outcomes were determined by surgical or pathology report in those found to have appendicitis and three weeks later in patients who were considered not to have appendicitis. Operator accuracy reading the ultrasound scans was reviewed in a blinded fashion by trained pediatric emergency medicine sonologists. The time to perform the POC ultrasound and CT scan use was measured.

The study’s findings revealed that emergency department length of stay decreased by two hours and 14 minutes (46% decrease) for those requiring radiology department ultrasound and almost six hours (68% decrease) for those requiring CT scanning when POC ultrasound was inconclusive as a first-line imaging study. Significantly, no instances of appendicitis were overlooked with the POC ultrasound protocol and no needless surgeries were performed for a normal appendix. Pediatric emergency clinicians, with the use of focused ultrasound training, were able to assess ultrasound exams with the similar accuracy as radiologists (approximately 94% accuracy). Dr. Tsung noted, “Surgeons are becoming more comfortable using ultrasound for decision-making and that is a big change from reliance on CT scans.”

The Mt. Sinai division of emergency ultrasound is involved with an effort to educate providers to use safer ultrasound as a faster first-line study in children.

Related Links:

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Gold Member
Solid State Kv/Dose Multi-Sensor
AGMS-DM+
New
Portable Radiology System
DRAGON ELITE & CLASSIC
New
Silver Member
Mobile X-Ray Barrier
Lead Acrylic Mobile X-Ray Barriers
New
Self-Driving Mobile C-arm
CIARTIC Move

Print article

Channels

Radiography

view channel
:	Image: The AI model could be a valuable adjunct to human radiologists in breast cancer diagnoses and risk prediction (Photo courtesy of 123RF)

AI Model Predicts 5-Year Breast Cancer Risk from Mammograms

Approximately 13% of U.S. women, or one in every eight, are predicted to develop invasive breast cancer over their lifetime, with 1 in 39 women (3%) succumbing to the illness, according to the American... Read more

Nuclear Medicine

view channel
Image: The AI system uses scintigraphy imaging for early diagnosis of cardiac amyloidosis (Photo courtesy of 123RF)

AI System Automatically and Reliably Detects Cardiac Amyloidosis Using Scintigraphy Imaging

Cardiac amyloidosis, a condition characterized by the buildup of abnormal protein deposits (amyloids) in the heart muscle, severely affects heart function and can lead to heart failure or death without... Read more

General/Advanced Imaging

view channel
Image: The CIARTIC Move self-driving mobile C-arm has received FDA clearance (Photo courtesy of Siemens)

Self-Driving Mobile C-Arm Reduces Imaging Time during Surgery

Intraoperative imaging faces significant challenges due to staff shortages and the high demands placed on surgical teams in the operating room (OR). A common challenge during many OR procedures is the... Read more

Imaging IT

view channel
Image: The new Medical Imaging Suite makes healthcare imaging data more accessible, interoperable and useful (Photo courtesy of Google Cloud)

New Google Cloud Medical Imaging Suite Makes Imaging Healthcare Data More Accessible

Medical imaging is a critical tool used to diagnose patients, and there are billions of medical images scanned globally each year. Imaging data accounts for about 90% of all healthcare data1 and, until... Read more

Industry News

view channel
Image: Samsung Medison CEO Mr. Yongkwan Kim and Bracco Imaging CEO Dr. Fulvio Renoldi Bracco endorsed a MoU agreement (Photo courtesy of Bracco Group)

Samsung and Bracco Enter Into New Diagnostic Ultrasound Technology Agreement

Samsung Medison (Seoul, South Korea) and Bracco Imaging (Milan, Italy) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement to pioneer a new area for diagnostic ultrasound devices and contrast agents.... Read more
Copyright © 2000-2024 Globetech Media. All rights reserved.