Saudi Journal of Medicine (SJM)
Volume-3 | Issue-06 | 330-333
Review Article
A Study of the Efficacy of Ultrasonography for Diagnosis after Blunt Abdominal Trauma
Kunkunuru Sudheer
Published : June 30, 2018
Abstract
Blunt abdominal trauma presents a challenge for diagnosis because it may be associated with multiple organ injuries thus physical examination alone may result in an improper diagnosis. Ultrasonography is one of the important tools in the examination of such patients. The aim of the present study was to determine the accuracy of Focused Assessment Sonography for Trauma [FAST technique] in blunt abdominal trauma patients. Methods: The study involved 120 Abdominal trauma patients admitted to Prathima Institute of Medical Sciences and Hospital. Every patient was examined by abdominal sonography in those patients who required urgent management because of serious injuries were excluded from the study. All the patients based on clinical assessments were suspected of abdominal trauma. The sonographies were done using the FAST technique “Focused Assessment Sonography for Trauma" in which six areas of the abdomen were examined. Results: Out of the 120 patients 94 were diagnosed as positive after abdominal sonography out of which 73 were confirmed as positive by CT, DPL, and explorative laparotomy and remaining 21 were found to be negative. Similarly out of 24 diagnosed as negative by sonography 2 were found to be positive by CT, DPL, and explorative laparotomy. The mean sensitivity in all patients was found to be 97.33% with 95% Confidence Interval ranging from 90.70% - 99.68%, the specificity was 53.33% 95% CI 37.87% - 68.34%, the positive predictive value PPV was 77.66% range 71.73% - 82.64% the negative predictive value NPV was 92.31% range 74.85% - 97.98%, the overall accuracy was 80.33% and range was 72.64% - 87.44%. Conclusion: within the limitations of the present study it can be concluded that abdominal ultrasonography with FAST technique is fairly reliable and accurate method of evaluation in blunt abdominal trauma. Abdominal ultrasonography is a valuable tool after clinical examination of the patients with blunt abdominal trauma. It has a relatively high negative predictive value that prevents the patients from undergoing unnecessary tests after blunt abdominal injuries.