First author / Date of most recent search | Review focus | Population | Setting | Number of included studies | Intervention of focus | Outcome measured | Author’s conclusions | Quality appraisal |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Al Deeb / Jan 2012 | Point of Care Ultrasound (POC-US) in diagnosing acute cardiogenic pulmonary edema (ACPE) | Patients with undifferentiated ACPE | ED and Primary care | 7 | Bedside ultrasound with B-lines | Diagnosis | In moderate to high pretest probability for ACPE, B-lines can be used to strengthen an emergency physician’s working diagnosis of ACPE. In low pretest probability for ACPE, a negative ultrasound study can almost exclude the possibility of ACPE. | 12/16 |
Asha / July 2014 | Diagnostic accuracy of D-dimer as a rule-out test for acute aortic dissection | Patients with suspected acute aortic dissection | ED and coronary care unit | 5 | Bedside d-dimer test | Diagnosis | Useful for risk stratification, a negative result useful to rule out in low-risk patients but cannot add to certainty of diagnosis. | 11/16 |
Benabbas / Oct 2016 | POC-US for diagnosis of acute appendicitis | Patients under 21 with abdominal pain | ED | 21 | Bedside ultrasound | Diagnosis | With appropriate expertise, bedside ultrasound can replace radiology department ultrasound for acute appendicitis but negative result inadequate to rule out. | 11/16 |
Chartier / July 2015 | POC-US for diagnosis of long bone fractures | Patients with suspected or known bone fracture | ED | 30 | Bedside ultrasound | Diagnosis | Good test results for diagnosis and reduction of long bone fractures. | 10/16 |
Darragh / Nov 2016 | Follow-up of laboratory test results pending at discharge | Inpatients or ED attendees who had one or more pending test results | Inpatient and ED | 9 | Improvement of test result follow-up pending at discharge | Patient mortality, morbidity, or impact on the process of healthcare delivery | Enhanced discharge summary templates, educational interventions for discharging physicians, and email alerts are promising strategies to improve the follow-up of finalised test results upon discharge. | 5/13 |
Fields / May 2015 | POC-US for diagnosis of acute appendicitis | Patients with suspected acute appendicitis | ED, acute care and surgery | 21 | Bedside ultrasound | Diagnosis | An appropriate imaging modality for diagnosing appendicitis, but premature to use as a stand-alone test. | 12/16 |
Hasselberg / Jun 2012 | Image-based telemedicine for medical expert consultation in acute care of injuries | Acute stage of injury/trauma | ED | 24 | Image-based telemedicine | Diagnostic validity, management, clinical outcomes, user satisfaction | Support for valid diagnosis and positive influence on patient management | 7/13 |
Joshi / 2012 | POC-US for diagnosis of extremity fractures | Patients with suspected fracture to extremities | ED | 8 | Bedside ultrasound | Diagnosis | Sufficiently accurate diagnostic test to rule in or out extremity fractures when ultrasound is preferred option but not to replace radiology where appropriate. | 7/13 |
Meyer / Feb 2010 | To summarize telepathology implementation challenges | Health professionals and caregivers | All care settings | 0 | Email communication of test results to patients | Patient understanding and action | No conclusions can be drawn due to lack of evidence. | 7/7 |
Rubano / Nov 2011 | POC-US for diagnosis of abdominal aortic aneurysm | Adult patients with suspected abdominal aortic aneurysm | ED | 7 | Bedside ultrasound | Diagnosis | Good diagnostic performance. Bedside ultrasound can be used to rule in or rule out the need for emergent CT and/or vascular surgery consultation. | 11/16 |
Vrablik / Aug 2012 | POC-US for diagnosis of retinal detachment | Patients with acute ocular complaints | Acute care | 3 | Bedside ultrasound | Diagnosis | Bedside ocular ultrasound has a high degree of accuracy in identifying retinal detachment. | 7/16 |
Whitehead / 2017 | Follow-up of laboratory test results pending at discharge | Inpatients or ED attendees who had one or more pending test results | Inpatient and ED | 17 | Practices that explicitly aimed to improve the documentation, communication, or follow-up of test results | Documentation completeness, physician awareness of pending tests, or follow-up | Individual education for preparers of discharge summaries improved the quality of discharge summary documentation of pending test results. There was suggestive evidence that aids, such as checklists and templates, were found to increase the completeness of documentation. Automated email notifications may increase awareness of pending test results. | 4/13 |