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Case Reports
Unexpected findings on point-of-care superficial ultrasound imaging before incision and drainage.
- Michael Blaivas and Srikar Adhikari.
- Department of Emergency Medicine, North-side Hospital Forsyth, Cumming, GA 30041 USA. mike@blaivas.org
- J Ultrasound Med. 2011 Oct 1; 30 (10): 1425-30.
AbstractCutaneous abscesses are typically incised and drained on the basis of clinical assessment. In most cases this procedure is a safe practice. We report 6 cases in which point-of-care ultrasound interrogation of obvious abscesses revealed potential serious complications with planned incision and drainage. Management was altered in 5 of 6 cases, and potential vascular disasters were avoided. In 1 case, the ultrasound results were ignored, and incision and drainage was completed, confirming the suspected abscess was indeed a solid mass later diagnosed as a carcinoma. In this case series, point-of-care ultrasound interrogation provided rapid assessment and discovery of potentially catastrophic anatomic relationships, avoiding serious complications.
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