The study stemmed from an observation by the researchers during work in their institution's emergency radiology department, where they noticed that a number of pelvic ultrasounds were being performed in women presenting with abdominal pain following a negative abdominal and pelvic CT exam. The group wanted to investigate whether these ultrasound studies added any additional value in the emergency care setting, said presenter Dr. Yiming Gao.
The study included 134 women who presented to the emergency room with acute abdominal pain between January 2005 and October 2010. Only 3% of the subsequent pelvic ultrasounds following negative CT scans found any abnormality, and these were all isolated to the endometrium, Gao said.
None of the follow-up pelvic ultrasound exams provided any additional diagnostic value or changed patient management, she said.
"While ultrasound is the indicated initial imaging exam for suspected gynecologic pathology, we believe that our study demonstrates that in equivocal or suspected nongynecologic presentations where abdominal and pelvic CT is acquired initially, significant acute gynecologic pathology will not be missed," Gao said.
