LUQ view and the FAST exam: helpful or a hindrance in the adult trauma patient?

Patients and methods This was a retrospective review of ultrasound images from a QA database (Qpath) of all positive patient care FAST exams from adult trauma patients at 2 urban, academic emergency departments over 2 years. Eligible studies were reviewed for location of intra-abdominal FF. FF seen in LUQ was further characterized as in splenorenal fossa, left paracolic gutter, and/or subdiaphragmatic/suprasplenic space. Reviewers then determined the frequency resident physicians obtained LUQ images deemed adequate for medical decision making. Data are reported as proportions with 95% confidence intervals (CIs, Jeffreys method).