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© 2003 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
J Ultrasound Med 22:13-17 • 0278-4297

Minimal Pelvic Fluid in Asymptomatic Children

The Value of the Sonographic Finding

Valeria Rathaus, MD, Michael Grunebaum, MD, Osnat Konen, MD, Alexandra Odsatchy, MD, Rivka Zissin, MD, Myra Shapiro, MD and Miriam Werner, MD

Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Sapir Medical Center, Kfar Saba, Israel, affiliated with Sackler Medical School, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel (V.R., O.K., A.O., R.Z., M.S., M.W.); and retired from the Department of Pediatric Radiology, Schneider Children’s Medical Center of Israel, Petah Tikva, Israel (M.G.).

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Valeria Rathaus, MD, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Sapir Medical Center, 44100 Kfar Saba, Israel.

Objective. To determine the presence of minimal pelvic fluid in asymptomatic children who underwent abdominal sonography. Methods. Between August 1999 and January 2001, we performed abdominal sonography in 396 asymptomatic children and 266 symptomatic children (acute and chronic abdominal pain). The 2 groups were evaluated for the presence of minimal fluid in the pelvis. All the children were divided into 4 subgroups according to age and sex. Results. Minimal pelvic fluid was noted in 28 (7%) of the asymptomatic children, and it was more common in girls (10.2%), especially in girls between the ages of 5 and 15 years. On the contrary, no difference between the age groups was seen in boys. Minimal pelvic fluid was found in 76 (28.6%) of the symptomatic children, with no difference seen between the sexes or age groups. The presence of pelvic fluid was significantly greater in the symptomatic group than in asymptomatic group (P < .001). Conclusions. Our data suggest that the presence of minimal pelvic fluid in children of all ages and both sexes is a physiologic finding and should be evaluated in the appropriate clinical context.

Key Words: asymptomatic children • minimal pelvic fluid • peritoneal fluid

Abbreviations: MPF • minimal pelvic fluid

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Copyright © 2003 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.