What Lies Beneath? Using Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) to Identify Soft Tissue Foreign Bodies in Children and Adults: A Literature Review.

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to evaluate and appraise the existing evidence on the use of point of care ultrasound (POCUS) for identifying soft tissue foreign bodies (FBs).

Methods: We searched PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, and Cochrane databases for prospective and retrospective studies evaluating the reliability of POCUS in identifying soft tissue FBs. Our primary intention was to review the paediatric-specific evidence base. However, due to a paucity of literature in this area, we also included relevant adult studies and case reports.

Results: We identified a total of 42 unique articles with relevance to our study objective, of which 3 were paediatric cohort studies and 5 were cohort studies involving paediatric patients. There were two paediatric case series and six individual case reports relating to paediatric patients. The remaining studies either involved adults, did not specify the age of their subjects, or were relevant in-vitro studies.

Conclusion: POCUS-users regard it as an effective tool for detecting soft tissue FBs. However, the existing evidence base for POCUS use in paediatric patients is limited. Evidence in adults is also relatively lacking compared with other areas of POCUS research, with few large studies evaluating its reliability. This literature review highlights the need for a large prospective paediatric study in order to confirm its effectiveness compared to traditional radiological imaging.