Internal and emergency medicine
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Point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) is commonly used at the bedside in the emergency department (ED) as part of clinical examinations. Studies frequently investigate PoCUS diagnostic accuracy, although its contribution to the overall diagnostic approach is less often evaluated. The primary objective of this prospective, multicenter, cohort study was to assess the contribution of PoCUS to the overall diagnostic approach of patients with right upper quadrant abdominal pain. ⋯ Overall, 60 (97%) diagnostic approaches were comparable or better with PoCUS (χ2 = 15.9, p < 0.01). With PoCUS, the mean number of differential diagnoses significantly decreased by 2.3 (95% CI - 2.7 to - 1.5) (p < 0.01), proposed treatments by 1.3 (95% CI - 1.8 to - 0.9) (p < 0.01), and complementary diagnostic tests by 1.3 (95% CI - 1.7 to - 1.0) (p < 0.01). These findings show that PoCUS positively impacts the diagnostic approach and significantly decreases the mean number of differential diagnoses, treatments, and complementary tests.