What Is the Diagnostic Performance of Ultrasonography to Diagnose Small Bowel Obstruction?

Authors included 11 prospective, observational studies for analysis, with 1,178 patients, from an initial 9,545 identified studies (after removal of duplicates) (Table). Study setting was the emergency department (ED) for 5 studies, whereas for the remaining 6 studies it was either non-ED or not specified. Studies were conducted in 10 countries. Reference standards varied, including surgical examination, CT, colonoscopy, enema, enteroclysis, pathology, and clinical follow-up. Seven studies did not specify the training protocol or ultrasonographic experience of the study ultrasonographers; the remaining studies generally reported a combination of didactic training focused on the ultrasonographic diagnosis of small bowel obstruction and previous ultrasonographic practical experience spanning several ultrasonographic studies or greater than 2 years of regular ultrasonographic experience.

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