Ultrasound Detection of Soft Tissue Abscesses Performed by Non-Physician U.S. Army Medical Providers Naïve to Diagnostic Sonography.

Background: Patients commonly present to emergency rooms and primary care clinics with cellulitic skin infections with or without abscess formation. In military operational units, non-physician medical personnel provide most primary and initial emergency medical care. The objective of this study was to determine if, after minimal training, Army physician assistants and medics could use portable ultrasound (US) machines to detect superficial soft tissue abscesses.