Annals of emergency medicine
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Meta Analysis
Emergency physician ultrasonography for evaluating patients at risk for ectopic pregnancy: a meta-analysis.
Ectopic pregnancy is a common concern in emergency departments (EDs) and remains the leading cause of first-trimester mortality. Pelvic ultrasonography by emergency physicians has been investigated as a diagnostic test for ectopic pregnancy. We present a meta-analysis of the use of emergency physician ultrasonography in the evaluation of patients at risk of ectopic pregnancy. ⋯ The results of this meta-analysis suggest that in a wide variety of clinical settings, the use of bedside ultrasonography performed by emergency physicians as a diagnostic test for ectopic pregnancy provides excellent sensitivity and negative predictive value. Visualization of an intrauterine pregnancy by an emergency physician is generally sufficient to rule out ectopic pregnancy.