Summary

Point-of-care ultrasound can allow physicians to quickly, safely and accurately determine the presence of free fluid in the peritoneal cavity at the bedside.

In trauma, ultrasound is most useful in identifying intra abdominal hemorrhage in hemodynamically unstable patients and may be used to guide their immediate management and disposition. PoCUS has limitations as a stand-alone test for intra-abdominal injuries in stable patients. Despite its ability to detect small amounts of free fluid, the sensitivity of PoCUS is limited by patients presenting early, late or in those patients with solid organ injuries that are unaccompanied by intraperitoneal bleeding. In addition, hollow viscus and retroperitoneal injuries are not reliably detected using this technique. This limits the utility of PoCUS as a rule out test for intraperitoneal hemorrhage. However, while understanding these limitations, it is clear that PoCUS can be used to improve the quality and efficiency of emergent care in the pediatric trauma patient.