Development of an ultrasound-based clinical decision rule to rule-out diverticulitis.

ABSTRACT: The concern for diverticulitis often leads to the use of computed tomography (CT) scans for diagnosis. We aim to develop an ultrasound-based clinical decision rule (CDR) to confidently rule-out the disease without requiring a CT scan. We analyzed data from a prospective study of adult emergency department (ED) patients with suspected diverticulitis who underwent both bedside ultrasound (US) and CT. Patient history, physical examination, laboratory findings, and US results were used to create a CDR via a recursive partitioning model designed to prioritize sensitivity, with a loss matrix heavily penalizing false negatives. We calculated the test characteristics for this CDR (TICS-Rule) and assessed the potential reduction in CT scans and ED length of stay. Data from 149 patients (84 female;

SUBMITTER: Selame LAJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11531591 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature