Point-of-care Ultrasound Trumps Computed Tomography in a Case of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Assessment

Patients who present to the emergency department (ED) with aortic emergencies can be some of the highest acuity patients that we manage. Ultrasonography performed at the bedside is traditionally considered to be a screening test that is especially useful in the unstable patient. Computed tomography...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCurēus (Palo Alto, CA) Vol. 11; no. 10; p. e5989
Main Authors Goldstein, Lara N, Wells, Mike
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States Cureus Inc 24.10.2019
Cureus
Subjects
Abdomen
Age
Aneurysms
Aortic aneurysms
Back pain
Blood clots
Calcification
Case reports
Coronary vessels
Dissection
Emergency Medicine
Health surveillance
Ischemia
Medical prognosis
Mortality
Older people
Patients
Signs
Smoking cessation
Surgery
Ultrasonic imaging
point of care ultrasound
abdominal aortic aneurysm
computer tomography
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Summary:Patients who present to the emergency department (ED) with aortic emergencies can be some of the highest acuity patients that we manage. Ultrasonography performed at the bedside is traditionally considered to be a screening test that is especially useful in the unstable patient. Computed tomography (CT) with angiography is the imaging modality of choice to confirm the diagnosis and plan the management of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), as an ultrasound is generally thought not to provide the clinician with sufficient anatomical information. We present a case of a patient with an abdominal aortic aneurysm where evidence obtained from the ultrasound provided more useful information regarding aneurysm structure and stability than did CT.
ISSN:2168-8184
2168-8184
DOI:10.7759/cureus.5989