Abdominal Pain Management and Point-of-care Ultrasound in the Emergency Department

Abdominal Pain Management and Point-of-care Ultrasound in the Emergency Department: a Randomized, Prospective, Controlled Study

Background: Abdominal pain is one of the most common reasons for admission to the emergency department (ED). This study aimed to investigate the effect of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) performed during the initial evaluation phase of patients who presented to the ED with abdominal pain on diagnostic processes, length of stay (LOS) in ED, and hospitalization and healthcare costs.

Methodology: This prospective, randomized, controlled, parallel group study was conducted with patients who presented to the Sakarya Education Research Hospital ED with abdominal pain from October 2019 to March 2020. Patients were divided randomly into two groups: control group where standard diagnostic strategies were applied and the POCUS group where POCUS was performed together with standard diagnostic strategies. All data were analyzed using IBM SPSS 21.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Abdominal Pain
• Intervention / Treatment: Diagnostic test: point-of-care ultrasound

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 207
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Turkey
  • Sakarya, Turkey, 54050
    • Sakarya University Training and Research Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• age >18 years
• Patients who presented to the ED with abdominal pain
• Nontraumatic patients

Exclusion Criteria:

• permanent mental disability,
• age <18 years,
• abdominal trauma within the last 24 hours,
• pregnancy, morbid obesity, repeated admissions,
• referral from an external center to the ED,
• missing patient information.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: Control group
Other: point-of-care ultrasound group	Diagnostic test: point-of-care ultrasound; point-of-care ultrasound

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
to measure the effect of POCUS on the Length of stay in emergency department	6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
to measure the effect of POCUS on the average cost of patients, the rate of change in the preliminary diagnosis of the physician, and hospitalization and discharge rate	1 months after discharge or hospitalisation

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Sakarya University

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Laursen CB, Sloth E, Lassen AT, Christensen Rd, Lambrechtsen J, Madsen PH, Henriksen DP, Davidsen JR, Rasmussen F. Point-of-care ultrasonography in patients admitted with respiratory symptoms: a single-blind, randomised controlled trial. Lancet Respir Med. 2014 Aug;2(8):638-46. doi: 10.1016/S2213-2600(14)70135-3. Epub 2014 Jul 3.
• Guner NG, Yurumez Y, Yucel M, Alacam M, Guner ST, Ercan B. Effects of Point-of-care Ultrasonography on the Diagnostic Process of Patients Admitted to the Emergency Department with Chest Pain: A Randomised Controlled Trial. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2020 Dec;30(12):1262-1268. doi: 10.29271/jcpsp.2020.12.1262.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 1, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 1, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): March 1, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 18, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 30, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): June 2, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 2, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 30, 2022
• Last Verified: May 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Emergency department; Cost; Abdominal pain; Length of stay; point-of-care ultrasound
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Disease Attributes; Signs and Symptoms, Digestive; Emergencies; Abdominal Pain
• Other Study ID Numbers: 16214662/050.01.04/152

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No