BEFAST (Bubble-Enhanced FAST) for the Evaluation of Solid Organ Injury
Status:
Recruiting
Trial end date:
2022-09-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
The Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (FAST) exam is widely used and accepted as
part of advanced trauma life support (ATLS) protocol, but its low sensitivity for identifying
solid organ injury in the absence of hemoperitoneum is a significant limitation.
Contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) has the potential to significantly enhance the evaluation
of the trauma patient with acute intra-abdominal injury through the use of intravascular
microbubbles that allow direct visualization of lacerations to solid organs. European studies
have demonstrated that ultrasound contrast markedly improves the sensitivity of ultrasound in
detecting solid organ injury, when the exam is performed in the radiology suite. The
researchers hypothesize that the bubble-enhanced FAST or BEFAST exam will be more sensitive
than traditional FAST for identification of solid organ injury in hemodynamically stable
blunt abdominal trauma patients when performed by emergency providers.