Introduction: Emergency ultrasound methods such as Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (FAST) are a widely used imaging method. This examination can be performed to examine the presence of several life-threatening injuries. Early diagnosis may lead to better outcome, but the effect of timely diagnosis in the prehospital setting is not yet clear. Therefore, the aim is to determine the diagnostic accuracy and the effect of prehospital ultrasound performed in (poly)trauma patients.
Methods: A literature search was performed in PubMed, Embase and Cochrane's Library. Articles were included if prehospital ultrasound was performed as a diagnostic intervention in patients with trauma. The main outcome measures included diagnostic accuracy, changes in prehospital diagnosis/treatment, changes in destination hospital and in-hospital response. Case reports and case series were excluded.
Results: After screening 3343 articles, nine studies met the inclusion criteria. These included three retrospective and six prospective observational studies, with a total number of 2,889 patients. Five studies report at least one change in polytrauma management, ranging from 6% to 48,9% of the cases. The diagnostic accuracy of prehospital ultrasound was adequate in eight (out of nine) articles. High sensitivity and high specificity were found on several endpoints (pneumothorax, free abdominal fluid, haemoperitoneum, both on site and during transport).
Conclusion: Prehospital ultrasound led to a change in polytrauma management in all studies that included this as an outcome measure. The diagnostic accuracy was described in eight studies, high sensitivity and specificity were found. Overall, the studies seem to suggest a positive influence of performing ultrasound. However, additional research with homogenous accuracy endpoints and uniformly trained prehospital care providers is recommended.
Background/objectives: Technological developments in point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), particularly with portable devices, are transforming POCUS use in austere, resource-limited environments (RLS) distinct from typical hospital or medical settings. POCUS has potential to improve diagnostic accuracy in military combat zones, low-resource environments such as the desert or tropics, microgravity, and high altitudes. Our updated narrative scoping review describes POCUS use in these global settings.
Acute dyspnea is a common symptom whose management is challenging in prehospital settings. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is increasingly accessible because of device miniaturization. To assess the contribution of POCUS in the prehospital management of patients with acute nontraumatic dyspnea, we performed a systematic review on nontrauma patients of any age managed in the prehospital setting for acute dyspnea and receiving a POCUS examination.
Purpose: Tibial plateau fractures are relatively common and require accurate diagnosis. Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT) has emerged as a tool to improve medical diagnosis. This study aims to investigate the accuracy of this tool in diagnosing tibial plateau fractures.
Department of Neurology, Medical Faculty and University Hospital Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine-University Düsseldorf, Moorenstraße 5, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Background: The reduction of processing times in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke is of outstanding importance. Our objective is to analyze the acute stroke care chain from onset to treatment in a city in Germany comprising three stroke units. Additionally, we discuss solutions for detected treatment delays.
