RT Book, Section
A1 Leuck, JoAnna
A1 Cizenski, Jennalee
A2 Reichman, Eric F.
SR Print(0)
ID 1159807091
T1 Culdocentesis
T2 Reichman's Emergency Medicine Procedures, 3e
YR 2018
FD 2018
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9781259861925
LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1159807091
RD 2024/04/19
AB Culdocentesis  is  a  procedure  used  to  sample  peritoneal  fluid  to  help  confirm  a  diagnosis  or  to  obtain  a  culture.  It  has  mainly  been  used  for  diagnosing  a  ruptured  ectopic  pregnancy  or  ruptured  ovarian  cyst.1-11  Culdocentesis  involves  introducing  a  hollow  needle  through  the  posterior  vaginal  cuff  and  into  the  peritoneal  space.1-11  This  is  a  relatively  simple  and  fast  procedure.  Ultrasound  (US)  has  virtually  replaced  culdocentesis  as  the  test  of  choice.  US  is  minimally  invasive,  has  high  sensitivity,  has  a  high  specificity,  and  involves  no  ionizing  radiation.  Culdocentesis  may  still  prove  to  be  an  important  skill  for  the  Emergency  Physician  to  consider  using  for  unstable  patients  and  in  low-resource  settings  that  do  not  have  US  capabilities.