EFSUMB Course Book

EFSUMB Course Book

Chapter 02 - Ultrasound of the Liver

EFSUMB: The European Federation of Societies for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology

Image courtesy of Dr Paul Adamoli, Radiopaedia.org, rID: 19644

Focussed Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (FAST) scan is a point-of-care ultrasound examination performed at the time of presentation of a trauma patient. 

It is invariably performed by a clinician, who should be formally trained, and is considered as an 'extension' of the trauma clinical assessment process, to aid rapid decision making. Some studies have shown no significant difference in diagnostic accuracy between radiologists and non-radiologists 6

The chief aim, and many would say the sole aim, is to identify intra-abdominal free fluid (assumed to be haemoperitoneum in the context of trauma) allowing for an immediate transfer to theatre, CT or other.

Many papers have been published detailing the pros and cons of this investigation 1,2. It has a reported sensitivity of ~90% (range 75-100%) and a specificity of ~95% (range 88-100%) for detecting intraperitoneal fluid 4. Sensitivity for detecting solid organ injuries is much lower. 

It has replaced diagnostic peritoneal lavage as the preferred initial method for assessment of haemoperitoneum.

The sensitivity of FAST to assess for pneumothorax is low at ~40% but may still be better than a supine chest x-ray 7.

References

(from https://radiopaedia.org/articles/focussed-assessment-with-sonography-for-trauma-fast-scan)

The EFSUMB provides excellent #FOAMed #FOAMcc #FOAMus #POCUS information on medical ultrasound. Below you can find a link to the original EFSUMB webpage to view and download different chapter on medical ultrasound.

Chapter 02 - Ultrasound of the Liver [Dietrich CF, Serra C, Jedrzejczyk M]
VIEW - DOWNLOAD & PRINT

Leave a comment

You are commenting as guest.

Social Media

  like us on Facebook

  follow us on Twitter

  join Discussion group

  join us on Linkedin

  newsletter sign up

  post on the blog