Frontiers in Pediatrics (Apr 2023)

Neonatologist-performed point-of-care abdominal ultrasound: What have we learned so far?

  • Archana Priyadarshi,
  • Archana Priyadarshi,
  • Archana Priyadarshi,
  • Sheryl Rogerson,
  • Rommel Cruzado,
  • Amanda Crow,
  • Murray Hinder,
  • Murray Hinder,
  • Himanshu Popat,
  • Himanshu Popat,
  • Soundappan S. V. Soundappan,
  • Soundappan S. V. Soundappan,
  • Nadia Badawi,
  • Nadia Badawi,
  • Mark Tracy,
  • Mark Tracy

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fped.2023.1173311
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11

Abstract

Read online

This review describes the sonographic appearances of the neonatal bowel in Necrotising enterocolitis. It compares these findings to those seen in midgut-Volvulus, obstructive intestinal conditions such as milk-curd obstruction, and slow gut motility in preterm infants on continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP)-CPAP belly syndrome. Point-of-care bowel ultrasound is also helpful in ruling out severe and active intestinal conditions, reassuring clinicians when the diagnosis is unclear in a non-specific clinical presentation where NEC cannot be excluded. As NEC is a severe disease, it is often over-diagnosed, mainly due to a lack of reliable biomarkers and clinical presentation similar to sepsis in neonates. Thus, the assessment of the bowel in real-time would allow clinicians to determine the timing of re-initiation of feeds and would also be reassuring based on specific typical bowel characteristics visualised on the ultrasound.

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