Use of focused abdominal sonography for trauma at pediatric and adult trauma centers: a survey

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.