Abstract
Trauma is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in children, and abdominal trauma represents the third leading cause of death. The Focused Abdominal Sonography for Trauma (FAST) exam is well accepted in adult trauma, but its usage and role in the pediatric trauma evaluation is less clear. This chapter aims to review the technique of the exam, to present the current literature with regards to its use, and to propose an algorithm to incorporate FAST into a clinical pathway to safely assess pediatric trauma patients and reduce the use of ionizing radiation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Scaife ER, Fenton SJ, Hansen KW, et al. Use of focused abdominal sonography for trauma at pediatric and adult trauma centers: a survey. J Pediatr Surg. 2009;44:1746–9.
Holmes JF, Gladman A, Chang CH. Performance of abdominal ultrasonography in pediatric blunt trauma patients: a meta-analysis. J Pediatr Surg. 2007 Sep;42(9):1588–94.
Menaker J, Blumberg S, Wisner DH, Dayan PS, Tunik M, Garcia M, Mahajan P, Page K, Monroe D, Borgialli D, Kuppermann N, Holmes JF, Intra-abdominal Injury Study Group of the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN). Use of the focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) examination and its impact on abdominal computed tomography use in hemodynamically stable children with blunt torso trauma. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2014;77:427–32.
Brenner D, Elliston C, Hall E, et al. Estimated risks of radiation-induced fatal cancer from pediatric CT. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2001;176:289–96.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Goldstein, S., Stewart, F. (2016). Emergency Ultrasound in the Evaluation of Pediatric Blunt Abdominal Trauma. In: Scholz, S., Jarboe, M. (eds) Diagnostic and Interventional Ultrasound in Pediatrics and Pediatric Surgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21699-7_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21699-7_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-21698-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-21699-7
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)