title: Sonographic Detection of Abdominal Free Fluid: Emergency Residents vs Radiology Residents.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Focused assessment with sonography for trauma (FAST) has become a part of initial examinations in trauma care at emergency departments (ED).
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The goal of the present study was to evaluate the accuracy of FASTs performed by emergency residents (ER) in detection of abdominal free fluid following blunt trauma.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, the reports of ERs performing FASTs on 286 admitted patients following blunt trauma were compared with those of radiology residents (RR) in relation to presence of abdominal free fluid. In addition, the reports of the two resident groups were compared with the final abdominal outcome, based on the results of abdominal computed tomography (CT) and clinical follow up.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The ERs had reported abdominal free fluid in 20 (6.9%) patients while RRs performing FAST had positive results in 22 (7.6%) patients. The reports of FASTs revealed significant correlation between the two resident groups (P < 0.001). ERs performing FASTs had 90% sensitivity and 98.5% specificity in comparison to RRs sonography reports. Furthermore, ER-performed FASTs had 96.5% accuracy in relation to final outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Following training, ED residents can perform FAST with high accuracy and specificity, similar to RR residents, in patients with blunt abdominal trauma.
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine Department, Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Majid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shojaee
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine Department, Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Faridaalaee
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine Department, Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sabzghabaei
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine Department, Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran ; Emergency Medicine Department, Shohada Tajrish Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Safari
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine Department, Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mansoorifar
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine Department, Imam Hossein Hospital, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arhamidolatabadi
authors.affiliation: Emergency Medicine Department, Alzahra Hospital, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, IR Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Keyghobadi
keywords: Abdominal Injuries; Trauma, Emergencies; Ultrasonography