The American surgeon
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The American surgeon · Aug 2019
Decreasing Accuracy of the eFAST Examination-Another Challenge Due to Morbid Obesity.
The extended focused assessment with sonography for trauma (eFAST) ultrasound examination is an essential step in the initial assessment of trauma patients. Its accuracy depends on the ability to acquire high-quality ultrasound images, and we hypothesized that increasing BMI was associated with increased odds for incorrect eFAST. All adult blunt trauma activations at a high-volume urban trauma center in 2016 that underwent eFAST and CT chest, abdomen, and pelvis were included (n = 446). ⋯ For those with BMI > 40 kg/m², the OR increased to OR = 3.12 (95% confidence interval, 1.45-6.69; P = 0.01). One-third of patients in this study were obese or morbidly obese. The latter was associated with increased odds for incorrect eFAST results, particularly the abdominal examination component.