RT Book, Section
A1 Reardon, Robert F.
A1 Hess-Keenan, Jamie
A1 Roline, Chad E.
A1 Caroon, Liberty V.
A1 Joing, Scott A.
A2 Ma, O. John
A2 Mateer, James R.
A2 Reardon, Robert F.
A2 Joing, Scott A.
SR Print(0)
ID 57793186
T1 Chapter 14. First Trimester Pregnancy
T2 Ma and Mateer's Emergency Ultrasound, 3e
YR 2014
FD 2014
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-179215-8
LK accessemergencymedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=57793186
RD 2024/04/19
AB Ultrasound  is  the  primary  imaging  modality  used  in  pregnancy.1–4  In  the  first-trimester,  pregnant  patients  who  present  with  vaginal  bleeding  or  abdominal  pain,  ultrasound  can  be  used  to  distinguish  ectopic  pregnancy  from  threatened  abortion  or  embryonic  demise.  The  primary  goal  of  emergency  sonography  of  the  pelvis  in  the  first  trimester  is  to  identify  an  intrauterine  pregnancy,  which  usually  excludes  the  diagnosis  of  ectopic  pregnancy.5  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  physicians  expedite  the  care  of  a  patient  with  a  ruptured  ectopic  pregnancy.6  Emergency  point-of-care  sonography  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  point-of-care  examination,  the  timing  of  which  is  dictated  by  the  clinical  scenario.