The group evaluated 48 children who had clinical suspicion of GI tract obstruction with both ultrasound and radiography. Of the patients, 27 were boys and 21 were girls, with a mean age of 14.02 months. A final diagnosis was made after surgical intervention in 40 patients and adequate follow-up in eight.
Ultrasound had sensitivity for confirming or excluding obstruction of 95%, compared with 87.2% for radiography; ultrasound's specificity was 100%, compared with 66.7% for x-ray. With respect to positive predictive value, ultrasound scored 100% and radiography reached 91.9%. Finally, ultrasound's negative predictive value was 80%, compared with 54.6% for radiography.
The researchers concluded that abdominal ultrasound is very accurate for diagnosing GI tract obstruction in children, and they recommended its use for this application.
