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© 2005 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
J Ultrasound Med 24:1371-1376 • 0278-4297

Ultrasonography in Patients Without Trauma in the Emergency Department

Impact on Discharge Diagnosis

Yoel Siegel, MD, Ahuva Grubstein, MD, Vladislav Postnikov, MD, Osnat Moreh, MD, Ethan Yussim, MD and Maya Cohen, MD

Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus, Petah Tiqva, Israel, affiliated with the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Yoel Siegel, MD, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Rabin Medical Center, Beilinson Campus, Petah Tiqva 49100, Israel. E-mail: yoels1{at}gmail.com

Objective. The aim of this study was to examine to what extent findings on ultrasonography performed in the emergency department (ED) after hours confirm or alter the referral diagnosis in patients without trauma as reflected in the discharge diagnosis. Methods. In this prospective study, data from 136 ultrasonographic examinations performed in patients without trauma after hours in the ED during January and February 2002 were evaluated against the suspected preimaging diagnosis of the referring ED physician and the actual discharge diagnosis from the ED or after hospitalization. The rate of preimaging and postimaging concordance was statistically analyzed and compared by calculation of confidence intervals and by the McNemar test. Results. Normal ultrasonographic findings were documented in 54 patients (40%), and pathologic findings were documented in 82 (60%). Thirty-four (25%) of the 136 examinations were concordant with the initial referring physician’s diagnosis. Of the 102 studies that were not concordant with the initial referral suspected diagnoses, that is, being either a study with normal findings or offering an alternative diagnosis, 81 (79.4%) were concordant with the discharge diagnosis. Conclusions. After-hours ultrasonographic findings in patients without trauma seen in the ED seem to have a high impact on the discharge diagnosis and are concordant with it in more than 80% of cases.

Key Words: discharge diagnosis • emergency department • ultrasonography

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval • DVT, deep vein thrombosis • ED, emergency department

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Copyright © 2005 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.