EchoPAIN
Trial question
What is the role of point-of-care ultrasound in patients presenting to the emergency department with acute abdominal pain?
Study design
Multi-center
Open label
RCT
Population
Characteristics of study participants
52.0% female
48.0% male
N = 251
251 patients (130 female, 121 male).
Inclusion criteria: adult patients presenting to the emergency department with acute abdominal pain.
Key exclusion criteria: documented end-of-life; immediate need of life-support therapy, pregnancy or lactation.
Interventions
N=125 POCUS (usual diagnostic workup and point-of-care ultrasound).
N=126 usual care (usual diagnostic workup).
Primary outcome
Exact diagnosis
56%
62%
62.0 %
46.5 %
31.0 %
15.5 %
0.0 %
POCUS
Usual
care
No significant
difference ↔
No significant difference in exact diagnosis (56% vs. 62%; RD 1.23, 95% CI 0.74 to 2.04).
Secondary outcomes
No significant difference in time from door to diagnosis (3.79 hours vs. 3.98 hours; AD -0.19 hours, 95% CI -0.8 to 0.43).
No significant difference in emergency department length of stay (9.92 hours vs. 9.96 hours; AD -0.04 hours, 95% CI -1.65 to 1.56).
No significant difference in hospitalization rate (30.89% vs. 35.71%; ARD 4.82, 95% CI -6.87 to 16.51).
Conclusion
In adult patients presenting to the emergency department with acute abdominal pain, POCUS were not superior to usual care with respect to exact diagnosis.
Reference
François Brau, Mathilde Papin, Eric Batard et al. Impact of emergency physician performed ultrasound in the evaluation of adult patients with acute abdominal pain: a prospective randomized bicentric trial. Scand J Trauma Resusc Emerg Med. 2024 Feb 26;32(1):15.
Open reference URL