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Question
35 year-old female presents with nausea and vomiting 1 week post-op for an abdominal surgery. Abdominal ultrasound is below; what's the diagnosis?
Answer
Small bowel obstruction (SBO)
Ultrasound for Small bowel obstruction (SBO)
- Wait….ultrasound can be used to detect an SBO? Yes, it can!
- Historically, abdominal XRay has a 77% and 57% (sensitivity and specificity, respectively) for SBO; ultrasound has 88% and 96% sensitivity and specificity, respectively.
- Want to learn more about ultrasound for SBO? Click here for a podcast describing the technique by Mike and Matt from the Ultrasound Podcast (@ultrasoundpodcast)
- Bottom line: Consider using ultrasound as your initial screening test for SBO, rather than an abdominal XR
References
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