Use of abdominal ultrasonography to assess pediatric splenic trauma. Potential pitfalls in the diagnosis.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of abdominal ultrasonography (US) for screening and grading pediatric splenic injury.


BACKGROUND
The use of abdominal US has increased rapidly as a method of evaluating organ damage after blunt abdominal trauma. Despite US's increasing use, little is known about its accuracy in children with splenic injury.


METHODS
Children (N = 32) suffering blunt abdominal trauma who were diagnosed with splenic injury by computerized tomography (CT) scan prospectively were enlisted in this study. Degree of splenic injury was evaluated by both CT and US. The ultrasounds were evaluated by an initial reading as well as by a radiologist who was blinded as to the results of the CT.


RESULTS
Twelve (38%) of the 32 splenic injuries found on CT were missed completely on the initial reading of the US. When the ultrasounds were graded in a blinded fashion, 10 (31%) of the splenic lacerations were missed and 17 (53%) were downgraded. Seven (22%) of the 32 splenic fractures were not associated with any free intraperitoneal fluid on the CT scan.


CONCLUSIONS
This study has shown that US has a low level of sensitivity (62% to 78%) in detecting splenic injury and downgrades the degree of injury in the majority of cases. Reliance on free intraperitoneal fluid may be inaccurate because not all patients with splenic injury have free intra-abdominal fluid. Based on these findings, US may be of limited use in the initial assessment, management, and follow-up of pediatric splenic trauma.
Krupnick
A S
AS
Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, USA.
Teitelbaum
D H
DH
Geiger
J D
JD
Strouse
P J
PJ
Cox
C S
CS
Blane
C E
CE
Polley
T Z
TZ
D000005:Abdomen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013154:Spleen / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000293:injuries*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014463:Ultrasonography