PURPOSE: Focused abdominal sonography for trauma (FAST) has been popularized for the initial evaluation of trauma patients. We sought to understand the scope of practice on a national level with specific attention to its use in the pediatric age group. METHODS: An electronic survey was sent to all American College of Surgeons level I trauma centers and the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions that were freestanding children's hospitals. RESULTS: The survey was emailed to 124 centers, and 98 (79%) completed the survey. Of the surveyed centers, 23% cared for adults only, 28% were freestanding children's hospitals, and 49% managed both. At adults-only institutions, 96% use FAST and at children's hospitals, only 15%; it is used at 85% of centers that care for both. For the centers that use FAST on children, 88% have no age limit. Of all the institutions that typically use FAST, the individual performing the examination could be a surgeon (73%), an emergency department doctor (48%), or a radiologist (3%). Of the centers that perform FAST, 51% bill for the FAST examination. CONCLUSIONS: Adult hospitals are much more likely to perform FAST examinations in the trauma patient, and many adult centers routinely use FAST to examine pediatric patients.
PURPOSE: Focused abdominal sonography for trauma (FAST) has been popularized for the initial evaluation of traumapatients. We sought to understand the scope of practice on a national level with specific attention to its use in the pediatric age group. METHODS: An electronic survey was sent to all American College of Surgeons level I trauma centers and the National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions that were freestanding children's hospitals. RESULTS: The survey was emailed to 124 centers, and 98 (79%) completed the survey. Of the surveyed centers, 23% cared for adults only, 28% were freestanding children's hospitals, and 49% managed both. At adults-only institutions, 96% use FAST and at children's hospitals, only 15%; it is used at 85% of centers that care for both. For the centers that use FAST on children, 88% have no age limit. Of all the institutions that typically use FAST, the individual performing the examination could be a surgeon (73%), an emergency department doctor (48%), or a radiologist (3%). Of the centers that perform FAST, 51% bill for the FAST examination. CONCLUSIONS: Adult hospitals are much more likely to perform FAST examinations in the traumapatient, and many adult centers routinely use FAST to examine pediatric patients.
Authors: Ashley E Walther; Richard A Falcone; Timothy A Pritts; Dennis J Hanseman; Bryce R H Robinson Journal: J Pediatr Surg Date: 2016-04-12 Impact factor: 2.545
Authors: Jesper Weile; Klaus Nielsen; Stine C Primdahl; Christian A Frederiksen; Christian B Laursen; Erik Sloth; Hans Kirkegaard Journal: Crit Ultrasound J Date: 2017-06-20
Authors: Aaron E Kornblith; Newton Addo; Monica Plasencia; Ashkon Shaahinfar; Margaret Lin-Martore; Naina Sabbineni; Delia Gold; Lily Bellman; Ron Berant; Kelly R Bergmann; Timothy E Brenkert; Aaron Chen; Erika Constantine; J Kate Deanehan; Almaz Dessie; Marsha Elkhunovich; Jason Fischer; Cynthia A Gravel; Sig Kharasch; Charisse W Kwan; Samuel H F Lam; Jeffrey T Neal; Kathyrn H Pade; Rachel Rempell; Allan E Shefrin; Adam Sivitz; Peter J Snelling; Mark O Tessaro; William White Journal: JAMA Netw Open Date: 2022-03-01