Usefulness of handheld ultrasound devices in the assessment of abdominal pathology and comparison with high-end ultrasound devices
Keywords:
Abdominal ultrasound, Portable devices, POCUS, AgreementAbstract
Background and objective: The EFSUMB recommends the use of handheld ultrasound devices in many point-of-care cases, including primary care. However, it is necessary to continue training in conventional ultrasound examinations. Our aim is to analyze the diagnostic accuracy of handheld ultrasound devices in abdominal pathology compared with conventional high-end ultrasound scanners.
Methodology: Agreement study between two ultrasound techniques, (1) POCUS (point-of-care ultrasound), with a General Electric® Vscan Air device and (2) standard ultrasound with a high-end Samsung RS 80® ultrasound scanner. Cohen’s kappa was used for the analysis. The study was conducted between November 2022 and September 2023 in the general ultrasound unit of the San Francisco de Asís University Hospital in Madrid. It included all patients from the emergency department and the inpatient unit who have been referred for abdominal ultrasound.
Results: A total of 93 patients were included (52.7% were women and the mean age was 65.6 (23.6) years). As regards body mass index (BMI), 11.8% had a BMI over 30 kg/m2. Of the scans performed, 69.9% were abdominal and the rest urological. Overall, the degree of agreement between the two tests was 89%, with 100% for liver and bladder pathology, 86.2% for renal pathology and 82.5% for complicated renal pathology. Intestinal (73.3%) and pancreatic (58.1%) pathologies showed the lowest correlation.
Conclusions: The degree of agreement of handheld devices is high (89%), especially in renal and bladder pathologies, where ultrasound is decisive in decision-making. The agreement is weaker in pancreatic and gastrointestinal tract pathologies.
References
1. Rivera Teijido M (2024) La ecografía En Atención primaria. Algo nuevo, Algo Viejo y Algo Prestado. Med Fam SEMERGEN Diciembre De 50(9):102367
2. Alfuraih AM, Alrashed AI, Almazyad SO, Alsaadi MJ (2021) Abdominal aorta measurements by a handheld ultrasound device compared with a conventional cart-based ultrasound machine. Ann Saudi Med 41(6):376–382
3. Duminuco A, Cupri A, Massimino R, Leotta S, Milone GA, Garibaldi B et al (2023) Handheld ultrasound or conventional ultrasound devices in patients undergoing HCT: A validation study. J Clin Med 12(2):520
4. Merkel D, Züllich TF, Schneider C, Yousefzada M, Beer D, Ludwig M et al (2023) Prospective comparison of handheld ultrasound devices from different manufacturers with respect to B-Scan quality and clinical significance for various abdominal sonography questions. Diagnostics 13:24
5. Conangla-Ferrin L, Guirado-Vila P, Solanes-Cabús M, Teixidó-Gimeno D, Díez-García L, Pujol-Salud J et al (2022) Ultrasound in primary care: consensus recommendations on its applications and training. Results of a 3-round Delphi study. Eur J Gen Pract 28(1):253–259
6. Segura Grau A, Joleini S, Díaz Rodríguez N, Segura Cabral JM (2016) Ultrasound of the gallbladder and the bile duct. Semergen 42(1):25–30
7. Fernández-Rodríguez T, Segura-Grau A, Rodríguez-Lorenzo A, Segura-Cabral JM (2015) Pancreatic ultrasonography. Semergen 41(3):158–63
8. Segura Grau A, Valero López I, Díaz Rodríguez N, Segura Cabral JM (2016) Liver ultrasound: focal lesions and diffuse diseases. Semergen 42(5):307–14
9. Salcedo Joven I, Segura-Grau A, Díaz Rodríguez N, Segura-Cabral JM (2016) Ultrasound of the spleen and the retroperitoneum. Semergen 42(6):395–401
10. Lakhoo K, Almario CV, Khalil C, Spiegel BMR (2021) Prevalence and characteristics of abdominal pain in the united States. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 19(9):1864–1872e5
11. Segura Grau A, Mejías Gil M, Román Garrido M (2024) Uso de La ecografía clínica En Atención primaria: Dolor abdominal Agudo. Med Fam SEMERGEN 50(9):102369
12. Segura Grau A, Soto Castro CA, Sánchez Sempere AM, Mejías Gil M (2024) Uso de La ecografía clínica En Atención primaria: hematuria. Med Fam SEMERGEN 50(9):102382
13. Nielsen MB, Cantisani V, Sidhu PS, Badea R, Batko T, Carlsen J et al (2019) The use of handheld ultrasound Devices - An EFSUMB position paper. Ultraschall Med 40(1):30–39
14. Park Y, Han J, Leikin S, Díaz-Gómez JL (2024) Essential Point-of-Care ultrasound insights for 2024. Semin Ultrasound CT MR 45(1):22–28
15. López-Palmero S, Bolivar-Herrera N, López-Lloret G, Merchán-Ortega G, Macancela-Quiñones JJ, López-Martínez G et al (2015) Diagnostic utility of handheld ultrasonography as an extension of the physical examination of patients with heart failure. Rev Clin Esp 215(4):204–210
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Ana Segura-Grau, Ines Salcedo-Joven, Esther Montes-Belloso, Sergio Cinza-Sanjurjo, Antonio Segura-Fragoso, Elena Segura-Grau (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Transfer of Copyright and Permission to Reproduce Parts of Published Papers.
Authors retain the copyright for their published work. No formal permission will be required to reproduce parts (tables or illustrations) of published papers, provided the source is quoted appropriately and reproduction has no commercial intent. Reproductions with commercial intent will require written permission and payment of royalties.
