To determine the correlation between the region of abdominal tenderness determined by the examining physician and the location of acute pathology diagnosed on abdominal CT. We hypothesize that the acute pathology diagnosed by CT will lie within the region marked on the abdominal wall by the examining physician prior to CT.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
102
The examining physician will place a radio-opaque skin marker (Beekley Corporation, Ortho-SPOTS® Order Code 187; 6mm spherical markers) at the point of maximal tenderness to direct abdominal palpation indicated by the patient. Additional markers will be placed at the cephalad and caudad limits of the region of tenderness, defined as the point at which the patient no longer complains of direct tenderness to palpation.
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, North Carolina, United States
sensitivity and specificity of a hypothetical limited CT restricted to the region of abdominal tenderness for detection of acute pathology on CT on the entire abdomen.
Time frame: immediate
the percentage decrease in radiation exposure which could be achieved by performing a CT restricted to the region of abdominal tenderness, compared with CT of the entire abdomen
Time frame: immediate
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