Use of Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma Examination Skills in the Evaluation of Non-trauma Patients

Study objectives Although the focused assessment with sonography in trauma (FAST) examination was initially developed for rapid evaluation of trauma patients, the basic skillset required to perform a FAST examination provides valuable information that may alter a non-trauma patient’s clinical course...

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Autores principales: Javedani, Parisa P, Metzger, Gregory S, Oulton, Jeremy R, Adhikari, Srikar
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cureus 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5856419/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29560289
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.2076
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author Javedani, Parisa P
Metzger, Gregory S
Oulton, Jeremy R
Adhikari, Srikar
author_facet Javedani, Parisa P
Metzger, Gregory S
Oulton, Jeremy R
Adhikari, Srikar
author_sort Javedani, Parisa P
collection PubMed
description Study objectives Although the focused assessment with sonography in trauma (FAST) examination was initially developed for rapid evaluation of trauma patients, the basic skillset required to perform a FAST examination provides valuable information that may alter a non-trauma patient’s clinical course. The objective of this study was to determine the utility of the FAST examination in the emergency department management of non-trauma patients. Methods Cases in which the FAST examination was used to direct care in non-trauma patients were retrospectively reviewed. Following the completion of the patient's care, emergency physicians were asked to complete a questionnaire indicating how information from the FAST examination was utilized to direct care of their non-trauma patients. Results A total of 63 non-trauma cases with average age of 48 years (range 16-94 years) were enrolled. The FAST examination positively impacted care in 57/63 (90.5%) cases. In 18/63 (28.6%) cases, the patient’s ultimate disposition changed because of FAST examination findings. In 9/63 (14.3%) cases, paracentesis was avoided by obtaining a FAST examination, and in 8/63 cases (12.7%) paracentesis was performed due to FAST examination results. In 16/63 (25.4%) cases, anticipated imaging changed due to FAST examination findings and 4/63 (6.3%) cases did not receive the anticipated computed tomography (CT) scan. Conclusions Although initially developed for evaluation of trauma patients, the FAST examination can provide valuable information that can positively impact care in non-trauma patients. The FAST examination can provide information to determine appropriate patient disposition, obtain appropriate additional imaging, ensure timely consultation, and eliminate risk from unnecessary procedures.
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spelling pubmed-58564192018-03-20 Use of Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma Examination Skills in the Evaluation of Non-trauma Patients Javedani, Parisa P Metzger, Gregory S Oulton, Jeremy R Adhikari, Srikar Cureus Emergency Medicine Study objectives Although the focused assessment with sonography in trauma (FAST) examination was initially developed for rapid evaluation of trauma patients, the basic skillset required to perform a FAST examination provides valuable information that may alter a non-trauma patient’s clinical course. The objective of this study was to determine the utility of the FAST examination in the emergency department management of non-trauma patients. Methods Cases in which the FAST examination was used to direct care in non-trauma patients were retrospectively reviewed. Following the completion of the patient's care, emergency physicians were asked to complete a questionnaire indicating how information from the FAST examination was utilized to direct care of their non-trauma patients. Results A total of 63 non-trauma cases with average age of 48 years (range 16-94 years) were enrolled. The FAST examination positively impacted care in 57/63 (90.5%) cases. In 18/63 (28.6%) cases, the patient’s ultimate disposition changed because of FAST examination findings. In 9/63 (14.3%) cases, paracentesis was avoided by obtaining a FAST examination, and in 8/63 cases (12.7%) paracentesis was performed due to FAST examination results. In 16/63 (25.4%) cases, anticipated imaging changed due to FAST examination findings and 4/63 (6.3%) cases did not receive the anticipated computed tomography (CT) scan. Conclusions Although initially developed for evaluation of trauma patients, the FAST examination can provide valuable information that can positively impact care in non-trauma patients. The FAST examination can provide information to determine appropriate patient disposition, obtain appropriate additional imaging, ensure timely consultation, and eliminate risk from unnecessary procedures. Cureus 2018-01-16 /pmc/articles/PMC5856419/ /pubmed/29560289 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.2076 Text en Copyright © 2018, Javedani et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Emergency Medicine
Javedani, Parisa P
Metzger, Gregory S
Oulton, Jeremy R
Adhikari, Srikar
Use of Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma Examination Skills in the Evaluation of Non-trauma Patients
title Use of Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma Examination Skills in the Evaluation of Non-trauma Patients
title_full Use of Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma Examination Skills in the Evaluation of Non-trauma Patients
title_fullStr Use of Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma Examination Skills in the Evaluation of Non-trauma Patients
title_full_unstemmed Use of Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma Examination Skills in the Evaluation of Non-trauma Patients
title_short Use of Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma Examination Skills in the Evaluation of Non-trauma Patients
title_sort use of focused assessment with sonography in trauma examination skills in the evaluation of non-trauma patients
topic Emergency Medicine
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5856419/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29560289
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.2076
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