Point of Care Ultrasound Use by Associate Providers for Differentiating Abscess Versus Cellulitis Skin and Soft Tissue Infection in the Emergency Department

BackgroundSkin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) are a common complaint in the ambulatory setting and pose a significant burden on the health care system.ObjectivesWe sought to determine the accuracy of ultrasound for detecting soft tissue abscesses by emergency medicine associate providers (APs).MethodsThis was a prospective observational study of adult patients with suspected SSTI in the emergency department of a rural tertiary care academic medical center. The AP performed and interpreted point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) of the suspected infected area. Ultrasound images and interpretation were reviewed by the attending emergency physician with either rejection or agreement of the image interpretation, diagnosis, and management. If incision and drainage was performed, presence or absence of purulent drainage was recorded.ResultsSixty-four patients with suspected SSTI were enrolled: 29 had POCUS-proven abscesses and 33 had cellulitis; 2 were excluded. AP clinical evaluation alone for identifying abscess revealed sensitivity of 92.3 (74.9–99.1), specificity of 67.7 (49.5–82.6), positive predictive value of 68.6 (57.0–78.2), and negative predictive value of 92.0 (81.4–100). The use of POCUS by APs in addition to clinical examination demonstrated sensitivity of 96.2 (80.4–99.9), specificity of 93.9 (79.8–99.3), positive predictive value of 92.6 (76.5–98.0), and negative predictive value of 96.9 (81.9–99.5). p values were <0.05 for test characteristics. Ultrasound results changed SSTI management decisions in 10 of 62 (16.1%) patients, with the most common change being a new incision and drainage or needle aspiration. Agreement of the POCUS interpretation between APs and attending physicians was 96.8% with a κ of 0.94 (0.85–1.00).ConclusionWith modest training, APs can successfully use POCUS to identify abscesses in patients in the emergency department with SSTIs. POCUS increases the ability to rule in the diagnosis and changes management in a clinically relevant number of patients with SSTIs.     

重症超声指导儿童脓毒性休克液体复苏的临床意义

目的研究重症超声指导儿童脓毒性休克液体复苏的临床意义。方法将泉州市儿童医院2018年6月-2019年6月间收治的78例脓毒性休克患儿纳为研究对象,采用随机数字表法将其均分为常规组(常规体液复苏,n=39)与观察组(重症超声指导下体液复苏,n=39),观察两组治疗效果。结果治疗12h后,两组患儿中心静脉压(central venous pressure CVP)显著上升(P<0.05),心率(heart rate,HR)显著下降(P<0.05),平均动脉压(meanarterial pressure,MAP)无显著性改变(P>0.05),两组CVP.HR,MAP水平无显著性差异(P>0.05)。治疗12h后,两组中心静脉血氧饱和度(ScvO2)显著上升(P<0.05),乳酸(Lac)及中心静脉二氧化碳分压(Pv-aCO2)水平显著下降(P<0.05),两组治疗12h后ScvO2、Lac及Pv-aCO2水平无显著性差异(P>0.05)。与常规组相比,观察组血管活性药物使用频率、剂量均明显低于对照组(P<0.05),其机械通气时间明显短于对照组(P<0.05)。两组ICU入住时间、总住院时间、7d及28 d死亡率无显著性差异(P>0.05)。结论重症超声能准确指导脓毒症性休克患儿液体复苏,有利于临床诊治。     

三维超声自由解剖成像技术对早期宫角与间质部妊娠的诊断价值

【摘要】 目的 探讨三维经阴道超声自由解剖成像技术(3DTVUOT)对早期宫角妊娠(CP)与间质部妊娠(ITP)的定性诊断价值。 方法 回顾性分析35例CP和36例ITP患者的临床资料。均因临床疑诊早期CP或ITP被序贯予以二维经阴道超声(2DTVU)和3DTVUOT检查，对妊娠病灶与宫腔的相通情况、病灶周围肌层完整性和厚度情况等进行比较分析；以手术 病理结果作为诊断金标准，对两种检查方法应用于CP和ITP定性诊断中的敏感性、特异性及准确性进行比较。 结果 CP患者的妊娠病灶与宫腔相通率(9143％)高于ITP(833％),病灶周围包绕肌层的厚度(608±135） mm高于ITP (195±058）mm,完整性(100％)亦高于ITP的(7222％)，组间比较差异均有统计学意义（P＜005）。2DTVU定性诊断CP和ITP的敏感性(8611％)、特异性(7714％)及准确性(8168％)均明显低于3DTVUOT（分别9444％、8571％、9014％），组间差异具有统计学意义（P＜005）。 结论 3DTVUOT对CP和ITP的早期定性诊断，具有较高的可靠性，优于2DTVU，可在临床推广应用。     

Effect of Acoustic Parameters and Microbubble Concentration on the Likelihood of Encapsulated Microbubble Coalescence

Microbubble contrast agents are commonly used for therapeutic and diagnostic imaging applications. Under certain conditions, these contrast agents can coalesce on ultrasound application and form larger bubbles than the initial population. The formation of large microbubbles potentially influences therapeutic outcomes and imaging quality. We studied clinically relevant ultrasound parameters related to low-pressure therapy and contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging to determine their effect on microbubble coalescence and subsequent changes in microbubble size distributions in vitro. Results indicate that therapeutic ultrasound at low frequencies, moderate pressures and high duty cycles are capable of forming bubbles greater than two times larger than the initial bubble distribution. Furthermore, acoustic parameters related to contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging that are at higher frequency, low-pressure and low-duty cycle exhibit no statistically significant changes in bubble diameter, suggesting that standard contrast ultrasound imaging does not cause coalescence. Overall, this work suggests that the microbubble coalescence phenomenon can readily occur at acoustic parameters used in therapeutic ultrasound, generating bubbles much larger than those found in commercial contrast agents, although coalescence is unlikely to be significant in diagnostic contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging. This observation warrants further expansion of parameter ranges and investigation of resulting effects.     

The Value of Percutaneous Shoulder Puncture with Contrast-enhanced Ultrasound in Differentiation of Rotator Cuff Tear Subtypes: A Preliminary Prospective Study

Imaging tests perform relatively well in the detection of rotator cuff tears (RCTs), exhibiting high sensitivity and specificity, mainly among larger full-thickness tears (tear width >1 cm). However, these tests are relatively less accurate in the detection of small full-thickness tears and partial-thickness tears. The purpose of this study was to determine the feasibility of percutaneous ultrasound-guided tendon lesionography (PUTL) using the SonoVue and the value of percutaneous shoulder puncture via contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS)—a combination of percutaneous ultrasound-guided subacromial bursography (PUSB) and PUTL—in the detection of RCT subtypes. Conventional ultrasound (US), CEUS and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed and prospectively evaluated in 97 patients who had undergone arthroscopy because of suspected RCTs. The rates of detection of the various subtypes of RCTs using CEUS, PUSB, PUTL, US and MRI were evaluated. The RCT subtype detection rate via CEUS was significantly higher than the rates via US and MRI (96.9%, 74.2% and 76.3%, respectively), as were the detection rates for small full-thickness tears combined with partial-thickness tears (98.2%, 60.0% and 61.8%, respectively). The detection rate with PUSB was significantly higher than those with US and MRI in assessing full-thickness tears combined with bursal-side partial-thickness tears (93.9%, 65.3% and 65.3%, respectively). The detection rate with PUTL was significantly higher than those with US and MRI in assessing the corresponding subtypes (100.0%, 69.2% and 76.9%, respectively). On the basis of our findings, we consider PUTL a tolerable and feasible procedure. Percutaneous shoulder puncture using CEUS can be an effective alternative method with better diagnostic performance than US and MRI for the detection of RCT subtypes.