Effect of prehospital ultrasound on clinical outcomes of non-trauma patients--a systematic review.
BACKGROUND
Advances in technology have made prehospital ultrasound (US) examination available. Whether US in the prehospital setting can lead to improvement in clinical outcomes is yet unclear.


OBJECTIVE
The aim of this systematic review was to assess whether prehospital US improves clinical outcomes for non-trauma patients.


METHODS
We conducted a systematic review on non-trauma patients who had an US examination performed in the prehospital setting. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials and the ISI Web of Science and the references of the included studies for additional relevant studies. We then performed a risk of bias analysis and descriptive data analysis.


RESULTS
We identified 1707 unique citations and included ten studies with a total of 1068 patients undergoing prehospital US examination. Included publications ranged from case series to non-randomized, descriptive studies, and all showed a high risk of bias. The large heterogeneity between the different studies made further statistical analysis impossible.


CONCLUSIONS
There are currently no randomized, controlled studies on the use of US for non-trauma patients in the prehospital setting. The included studies were of large heterogeneity and all showed a high risk of bias. We were thus unable to assess the effect of prehospital US on clinical outcomes. However, consistent reports suggested that US may improve patient management with respect to diagnosis, treatment, and hospital referral.
The Emergency Medical Services in Copenhagen, Denmark; Centre of Head and Orthopaedics, Department of Anaesthesia, Rigshospitalet, Denmark. Electronic address: rudolph@dadlnet.dk.
Søren Steemann
SS
Rudolph
Centre of Head and Orthopaedics, Department of Anaesthesia, Rigshospitalet, Denmark.
Martin Kryspin
MK
Sørensen
The Emergency Medical Services in Copenhagen, Denmark; Centre of Head and Orthopaedics, Department of Anaesthesia, Rigshospitalet, Denmark.
Christian
C
Svane
Centre of Head and Orthopaedics, Department of Anaesthesia, Rigshospitalet, Denmark.
Rasmus
R
Hesselfeldt
The Emergency Medical Services in Copenhagen, Denmark; Centre of Head and Orthopaedics, Department of Anaesthesia, Rigshospitalet, Denmark.
Jacob
J
Steinmetz
D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D063868:Patient Outcome Assessment; D014463:Ultrasonography
Echocardiography; Lung ultrasound; Out of hospital cardiac arrest; Prehospital care; Systematic review; Ultrasound