Abstract
POCUS is an effective and efficient modality for bedside clinicians to safely and efficiently evaluate patients presenting with abdominal pain [1–5]. Figure 38.1 proposes a clinically integrated POCUS approach to patients with abdominal pain. Acutely traumatized or unstable patients should be rapidly examined for signs of bleeding or an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). In stable patients, clinicians should use the history and physical exam to guide their POCUS evaluation. When using POCUS to evaluate patients with abdominal pain, the bedside clinician must consider the limitations that are dependent on clinician experience, patient characteristics, and disease factors.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Dickman E, Tessaro MO, Arroyo AC, Haines LE, Marshall JP. Clinician-performed abdominal sonography. Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg. 2015;41:481–92.
Hasani SA, Fathi M, Daadpey M, Zare MA, Tavakoli N, Abbasi S. Accuracy of bedside emergency physician performed ultrasound in diagnosing different causes of acute abdominal pain: a prospective study. Clin Imaging. 2015;39(3):476–9.
Lindelius A, Törngren S, Sondén A, Pettersson H, Adami J. Impact of surgeon-performed ultrasound on diagnosis of abdominal pain. Emerg Med J. 2008;25(8):486–91.
Kameda T, Taniguchi N. Overview of point-of-care abdominal ultrasound in emergency and critical care. J Intensive Care. 2016;4:53.
Rowland JL, Kuhn M, Bonnin RLL, Davey MJ, Langlois SLP. Accuracy of emergency department bedside ultrasonography. Emerg Med (Fremantle). 2001;13:305–13.
Bassler D, Snoey ER, Kim J. Goal-directed abdominal ultrasonography: impact on real-time decision making in the emergency department. J Emerg Med. 2003;24(4):375–8.
Wherrett LJ, Boulanger BR, McLellan BA, Brenneman FD, Rizoli SB, Culhane J, et al. Hypotension after blunt abdominal trauma: the role of emergent abdominal sonography in surgical triage. J Trauma. 1996;41(5):815–20.
Ma JO, Mateer JR, Ogata M, Kefer MP, Wittmann D, Aprahamian C. Prospective analysis of a rapid trauma ultrasound examination performed by emergency physicians. J Trauma. 1995;38(6):879–85.
Dolich MO, McKenney MG, Varela JE, Compton RP, McKenney KL, Cohn SM. 2,576 ultrasounds for blunt abdominal trauma. J Trauma. 2001;50(1):108–12.
Patel NY, Riherd JM. Focused assessment with sonography for trauma: methods, accuracy, and indications. Surg Clin North Am. 2011;91:195–207.
Tainter CR. Abdominal aorta. In: Soni NJ, Arntfield R, Kory P, editors. Point of care ultrasound. Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders; 2015. p. 167–73.
Woo MY, Taylor M, Loubani O, Bowra J, Atkinson P. My patient has got abdominal pain: identifying biliary problems. Ultrasound. 2014;22(4):223–8.
Cox C, MacDonald S, Henneberry R, Atkinson P. My patient has abdominal pain and flank pain: identifying renal causes. Ultrasound. 2015;23(4):242–50.
Lam SH, Grippo A, Kerwin C, Konicki PJ, Goodwine D, Lambert MJ. Bedside ultrasonography as an adjunct to routine evaluation of acute appendicitis in the emergency department. West J Emerg Med. 2014;15(7):808–15.
Novak KL, Jacob D, Kaplan GG, Boyce E, Ghosh S, Ma I, et al. Point of care ultrasound accurately distinguishes inflammatory from noninflammatory disease in patients presenting with abdominal pain and diarrhea. Can J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016;2016:4023065.
Allison SO, Lev-Toaff AS. Acute pelvic pain: what we have learned from the ER. Ultrasound Q. 2010;26(4):211–8.
Mercaldi CJ, Lanes SF. Ultrasound guidance decreases complications and improves the cost of care among patients undergoing thoracentesis and paracentesis. Chest. 2013;143(2):532–8.
Testa A, Lauritano EC, Giannuzzi R, Pignataro G, Casagranda I, Gentiloni Silveri NG. The role of emergency ultrasound in the diagnosis of acute non-traumatic epigastric pain. Intern Emerg Med. 2010;5:401–9.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Balan, M., Haroon, B. (2018). Evaluation of Abdominal Pain. In: Nelson, B., Topol, E., Bhagra, A., Mulvagh, S., Narula, J. (eds) Atlas of Handheld Ultrasound. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73855-0_38
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73855-0_38
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-73853-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-73855-0
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)