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- Title
Ultrasonography as an integrated tool in clinical decision-making in the Emergency Department.
- Authors
Golea, Adela C.; Mureșan, Eugenia G.P.; Lăcan, Sorin S.; Pasc, Mihaela Gh.; Bolboacă, Sorana D.; Mureșan, Eugenia Gp
- Abstract
<bold>Aim: </bold>The aim of this retrospective study was to identify the role of ultrasonography as a decision-making and screening tool in emergency patients with pathological changes.<bold>Material and Method: </bold>The study was carried out for 28 months in the Emergency Department of the County Emergency University Hospital, Cluj-Napoca. An ultrasound examination was performed as part of the clinical algorithm within the first hour of treating non-critical patients after they had been triaged. The diagnostic decision based on the results of the ultrasound examination was compared with the final diagnosis on discharge from the Emergency Department.<bold>Results: </bold>In study were included 1565 patients with a mean age of 50.61±19.21 years. Ultrasound changes were detected in a statistically significant number of patients from all the examined subgroups (p≤0.002). The concordance between clinical and ultrasound findings was of 54.06%. Of all the examined patients, 20.63% were referred to surgery department based on the results of the ultrasound examination. Surgery was the final therapeutic decision in 5.06% of all the patients with normal ultrasound findings.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>Ultrasonography as an integrated tool in the clinical examination algorithm allowed the identification of non-critical patients who required emergency surgery (20.63%). The integration of point-of-care ultrasound into the clinical examination allows the management of emergency patients through the ranking of decisions: hospital admission for surgery and medical treatment, other diagnostic investigations, referral to outpatient care and family physician.
- Subjects
ROMANIA; ULTRASONIC imaging; MEDICAL decision making; MEDICAL emergencies; MEDICAL protocols; SURGICAL emergencies; ALGORITHMS; HOSPITAL emergency services; LONGITUDINAL method; MEDICAL referrals; MEDICAL screening; MEDICAL triage; SYSTEM integration; RETROSPECTIVE studies
- Publication
Medical Ultrasonography, 2016, Vol 18, Issue 4, p419
- ISSN
1844-4172
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.11152/mu-866