RT Book, Section
A1 Ball, Christian L.
A1 Hess, Jamie M.
A1 Reardon, Robert F.
A2 Ma, O. John
A2 Mateer, James R.
A2 Reardon, Robert F.
A2 Byars, Donald V.
A2 Knapp, Barry J.
A2 Laudenbach, Andrew P.
SR Print(0)
ID 1175882224
T1 First Trimester Pregnancy
T2 Ma and Mateer's Emergency Ultrasound, 4e
YR 2021
FD 2021
PB McGraw-Hill Education
PP New York, NY
SN 9781260441819
LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=1175882224
RD 2024/04/20
AB Ultrasound  is  the  primary  imaging  modality  used  in  pregnancy,  and  it  is  critical  for  assessing  patients  in  their  first  trimester  who  present  with  vaginal  bleeding  or  abdominal  pain.1−3  Point-of-care  ultrasound  (POCUS)  in  the  first  trimester  is  primarily  used  to  identify  an  intrauterine  pregnancy,  which  usually  excludes  the  diagnosis  of  ectopic  pregnancy.4  It  can  also  help  identify  threatened  abortion  or  embryonic  demise.  Secondary  objectives  are  to  detect  extrauterine  signs  of  an  ectopic  pregnancy,  estimate  the  viability  of  an  intrauterine  pregnancy,  clarify  gestational  age,  and  characterize  other  causes  of  pelvic  pain  and  vaginal  bleeding.  In  addition,  sonographic  detection  of  free  fluid  outside  of  the  pelvis  can  help  emergency  and  acute  care  providers  expedite  the  care  of  a  patient  with  a  ruptured  ectopic  pregnancy.5  POCUS  is  not  intended  to  define  the  entire  spectrum  of  pelvic  pathology  in  early  pregnancy.  A  follow-up  comprehensive  pelvic  ultrasound  examination  may  be  indicated  after  the  initial  focused  POCUS  examination,  the  timing  of  which  is  dictated  by  the  clinical  scenario.