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Journal of The Korean Society of Emergency Medicine 1995;6(1): 30-37. |
| EMERGENCY ULTRASONOGRAPHY IN THE EVALUATION OF CHEST AND ABDOMINAL INJURY OF TRAUMATIC COMA PATIENTS : A PROSPECTIVE STUDY |
| Kyoung Soo Lim1, Kang Hyun Lee1, Jin Woong Lee1, Boo Soo Lee1, Sung Oh Hwang1, Soo Young Yoo2, Sung Joon Kang2 |
1Department of Emergency Medicine, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University
2Department of General Surgery, Wonju College of Medicine, Yonsei University |
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Published online: June 30, 1995. |
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| ABSTRACT |
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The need for rapid diagnosis and treatment of life-threatening thoracic and intra-abdominal injury result in controversy over the appropriate triage of unconscious blunt trauma patients. To aid in early decisions for these patients, a prospective analysis of 98 patients with glasgow coma scale(GCS) scores≤8 was undertaken. Although intra-thoracic and intra-abdominal injuries were frequently identified based on systolic blood pressure, the use of clinical signs alone resulted in more missed injuries than did using the emergency ultrasonography. In normotensive patients(n=34), intra-thoracic injuries was identified in one patient(2.9%), and intra-abdominal injuries were in 7 patients(20.6%). In shock(systolic blood pressure<90mmHg) patients(n=64), thoracic injuries and intra-abdominal injuries were diagnosed in 8(12.5%) and 27 patients(42.3%), thoracic and abdominal combined injuries were identified in 11 patients(17. 2%). The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of emergency ultrasonography were 96.3%, 91.7%, 94.9%. This study suggests that all unconscious trauma patients undergo immediate emergency ultrasonography to prevent missing life-threatening injuries. |
| Key words:
Emergency ultrasonography, Unconscious blunt trauma |
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