Alyssa Flowers
Research Mentor(s): Irene Carter
Mentor Department: Pediatric Surgery Section
Authors: Alyssa Flowers, Ariana Wallace, Sarah King, Irene Carter, Ronald Hirschl
Session: Session 3 (11:00am – 11:50am)
Presentation Type: Poster 40
Abstract
Ultrasounds are often used as a secondary evaluation method in the emergency department to diagnose inguinal hernias in pediatric patients. Many surgeons can diagnose the hernias upon palpation and can decide whether surgery is necessary based on just the physical exam. This project is working to decide whether ultrasounds are a necessary diagnostic measure in evaluating pediatric inguinal hernias in the emergency department, which we hypothesize are not necessary for surgical decision making. Through retrospective chart review, data was collected by analyzing records of patients who went to the ED, had an ultrasound, and had a consult from pediatric surgery from 2015-2023. Information was collected for what the ED physical exam findings were, what the ultrasound showed, what the pediatric surgeon’s physical exam found, and if they had surgery, what it showed. These results will be analyzed to see if the ultrasound had different findings than the physical exams and/or if it changed decision making at any point during the process. If the hypothesis is supported, the implications of this study are that ultrasounds are not needed as frequently for inguinal hernia evaluation, which would mitigate cost, time, and help areas with minimal ultrasound access to still deliver inguinal hernia care.
