Dataset Information

Abdominal Pain in the Elderly Patient: Point-of-care Ultrasound Diagnosis of Small Bowel Obstruction.

ABSTRACT:

Case presentation

A 67-year-old female presented to the emergency department (ED) complaining of generalized abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) demonstrated dilated bowel loops measuring up to 4.1 centimeters and localized free fluid, consistent with a small bowel obstruction (SBO). A nasogastric tube was placed without complications. The patient was admitted to the hospital and conservatively managed with an uncomplicated course.

Discussion

In elderly patients with abdominal pain, POCUS is an excellent initial imaging modality to assist emergency physicians in rapid and accurate diagnosis of a variety of pathologies to expedite management. Point-of-care ultrasound can be used to rule out and evaluate for conditions encountered in emergency medicine, including acute cholecystitis, renal colic, abdominal aortic aneurysm, and intraperitoneal free fluid. As demonstrated in our case presentation, POCUS had an integral role in the early diagnosis and management of a SBO.

SUBMITTER: Hussein A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7872622 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Abdominal Pain in the Elderly Patient: Point-of-care Ultrasound Diagnosis of Small Bowel Obstruction.

Hussein Ahmad A Arena Alexander A Yu Connie C Cirilli Angela A Kurkowski Ellen E

Clinical practice and cases in emergency medicine 20210201 1

<h4>Case presentation</h4>A 67-year-old female presented to the emergency department (ED) complaining of generalized abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) demonstrated dilated bowel loops measuring up to 4.1 centimeters and localized free fluid, consistent with a small bowel obstruction (SBO). A nasogastric tube was placed without complications. The patient was admitted to the hospital and conservatively managed with an uncomplicated course.<h4>Discussion</h4>In ...[more]

PMID: 33560972

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Project description:BackgroundSelected patients with adhesion-related chronic abdominal pain can be treated effectively by adhesiolysis with the application of adhesion barriers. These patients might also have an increased risk to develop adhesive small bowel obstruction (ASBO). It is unknown how frequently these patients develop ASBO, and how elective adhesiolysis for pain impacts the risk of ASBO.MethodsPatients with adhesion-related chronic pain were included in this cohort study with long-term follow-up. The diagnosis of adhesions was confirmed using CineMRI. The decision for operative treatment of adhesions was made by shared agreement based on the correlation of complaints with CineMRI findings. The primary outcome was the 5-years incidence of readmission for ASBO. Incidence was compared between patients with elective adhesiolysis and those treated non-operatively and between patients with and without previous ASBO. Univariable and multivariable Cox regression analysis was performed to identify predictive factors for ASBO. Secondary outcomes included reoperation for ASBO and self-reported pain and other abdominal symptoms.ResultsA total of 122 patients were included, 69 patients underwent elective adhesiolysis. Thirty patients in both groups had previous episodes of ASBO in history. During 5-year follow-up, the readmission rate for ASBO was 6.5% after elective adhesiolysis compared to 26.9% after non-operative treatment (p = 0.012). These percentages were 13.3% compared to 40% in the subgroup of patients with previous episodes of ASBO (p = 0.039). In multivariable analysis, elective adhesiolysis was associated with a decreased risk of readmission for ASBO with an odds ratio of 0.21 (95% CI 0.07-0.65), the risk was increased in patients with previous episodes with a odds ratio of 19.2 (95% CI 2.5-144.4). There was no difference between the groups in the prevalence of self-reported abdominal pain. However, in surgically treated patients the impact of pain on daily activities was lower, and the incidence of other symptoms was lower.ConclusionMore than one in four patients with chronic adhesion-related pain develop episodes of ASBO when treated non-operatively. Elective adhesiolysis reduces the incidence of ASBO in patients with chronic adhesion-related symptoms, both in patients with and without previous episodes of ASBO in history. Trial registration The study was registered at Clinicaltrials.gov under NCT01236625.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Pneumoperitoneum is a rare cause of abdominal pain characterized by a high mortality. Ultrasonography (US) can detect free intraperitoneal air; however, its accuracy remains unclear. The aims of this pilot study were to define the diagnostic performance and the reliability of abdominal US for the diagnosis of pneumoperitoneum. METHODS:This was a prospective observational study. Four senior and two junior physicians were shown, in an unpaired randomized order, abdominal US videos from 11 patients with and 11 patients without pneumoperitoneum. Abdominal US videos were obtained from consecutive patients presenting to ED complaining abdominal pain with the diagnosis of pneumoperitoneum established by CT. Abdominal US was performed according to a standardized protocol that included the following scans: epigastrium, right and left hypochondrium, umbilical area and right hypochondrium with the patient lying on the left flank. We evaluated accuracy, intra- and inter-observer agreement of abdominal US when reviewed by senior physicians. Furthermore, we compared the accuracy of a "2 scan-fast exam" (epigastrium and right hypochondrium) vs the full US examination and the accuracy of physicians expert in US vs nonexpert ones. Finally, accuracy of US was compared with abdominal radiography in patients with available images. RESULTS:Considering senior revision, accuracy of abdominal US was 88.6 % (95 % CI 79.4-92.4 %) with a sensitivity of 95.5 % (95 % CI 86.3-99.2 %) and a specificity of 81.8 % (95 % CI 72.6-85.5 %). Inter- and intra-observer agreement (k) were 0.64 and 0.95, respectively. Accuracy of a "2 scan-fast exam" (87.5 %, 95 % CI 77.9-92.4 %) was similar to global exam. Sensitivity of abdominal radiography (72.2 %, 95 % CI 54.8-85.7 %) was lower than that of abdominal US, while specificity (92.5 %, 95 % CI 79.5-98.3 %) was higher. Accuracy (68.2 %, 95 % CI 51.4-80.9 %) of junior reviewers evaluating US was lower than senior reviewers. CONCLUSIONS:Senior physicians can recognize US signs of pneumoperitoneum with a good accuracy and reliability; sensitivity of US could be superior to abdominal radiography and a 2 fast-scan exam seems as accurate as full abdominal examination. US could be a useful bedside screening test for pneumoperitoneum. Trial registry ClinicalTrials.gov; No.: NCT02004925; URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov.

Dataset Information

Abdominal Pain in the Elderly Patient: Point-of-care Ultrasound Diagnosis of Small Bowel Obstruction.

Case presentation

Discussion

Publications

Abdominal Pain in the Elderly Patient: Point-of-care Ultrasound Diagnosis of Small Bowel Obstruction.

Similar Datasets

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