Benefit of early abdominal ultrasonography in non-surgical patients admitted to the emergency department: a pilot study

Purpose Ultrasonography plays a decisive role in emergency patients. The primary aim of this study is to assess whether early emergency ultrasonography alters the length of stay. Methods In a prospective study, patients admitted to the emergency department were divided into two groups. The first group underwent early abdominal ultrasonography (within 24 h after admission), and the second group underwent ultrasonography after more than 24 h. The two groups were compared in terms of length of stay, age, admission diagnosis, and number of further imaging techniques used. A subgroup analysis was carried out for admission diagnosis. One hundred and forty-five patients were included in the study. Results In terms of length of stay, no difference was seen between the first group (11.7 ± 11.4 days) and the second group (13.6 ± 11.0 days) ( p = 0.1196). In the subgroups “abdominal pain” ( p = 0.0333) and “cardiopulmonary disorders” ( p = 0.0207), a shorter length of stay was associated with early ultrasonography, while in the subgroup “infectious disease/fever,” the early ultrasonography group was associated with a prolonged length of stay ( p = 0.0211). Conclusion Early ultrasonography in our setting of emergency patients with a variety of different admission diagnoses did not shorten the length of stay, but the subgroups of patients with “abdominal pain” and “cardiopulmonary disorders” might have benefited from early ultrasonography.