• Alexander C Arroyo, Jessica Zerzan, Hector Vazquez, Eitan Dickman, Antonios Likourezos, Rukhsana Hossain, and William Bonadio.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Maimonides Medical Center, Brooklyn, New York.
• J Emerg Med. 2021 May 1; 60 (5): 626-632.

BackgroundIntussusception (INT) is a common cause of bowel obstruction in young children. Delay in diagnosis can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. There have been several studies evaluating early point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in the diagnosis of INT by nonradiologists.ObjectiveOur objective was to determine the diagnostic accuracy of POCUS by novice sonographer pediatric emergency medicine physicians (PEM-Ps) who received focused US training for diagnosing INT.MethodsWe performed a prospective observational study including 17 PEM-Ps (14 attendings, 3 fellows) trained to perform abdominal US for INT. Children suspected of having INT received POCUS performed and interpreted by a PEM-P, followed by a US study performed by a certified ultrasonographer and interpreted by an attending pediatric radiologist. Diagnostic concordance between PEM-P-and radiology-performed US (RPUS) results was assessed.ResultsOne hundred patients were enrolled; median patient age was 24 months. There was excellent diagnostic agreement for presence or absence of INT between PEM-Ps and RPUS (97% of cases; κ = 0.826). POCUS-diagnosed INT was present in 8 of 9 patients with RPUS-diagnosed INT (sensitivity 89%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 51-99%; specificity 98%; 95% CI 92-100%; positive predictive value 80%; 95% CI 44-96%; negative predictive value 99%; 95% CI 93-100%). Likelihood ratio for INT with a positive POCUS was 40.44 (95% CI 10.07-162.36) and with a negative POCUS was 0.11 (95% CI 0.02-0.72).ConclusionsPOCUS performed by novice sonographers to diagnose INT has high diagnostic concordance with RPUS. Emergency department-performed POCUS is a rapid and accurate method for diagnosing INT.Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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