Title
Diagnostic accuracy of focused assessment with sonography in trauma for blunt abdominal injury: A prospective observational study
Authors
Laxmi L Sen1,*, Shireesh M Ninama2, Jemish B Patel3, Jeewan Verma4, Manchireddy Manish5 & Madhan Sugumar6
Affiliation
1Department of General Surgery, R.N.T. Medical College HMQV+7XQ, Court Chowk, City's Prime Health Care Area, Udaipur, Rajasthan 313004, India; 2Department of General Surgery, Dr N D Desai Faculty of Medical science and Research, Dharmsinh Desai University, Nadiad-387001, Gujarat, India; 3Department of General Surgery, GMERS Medical College Hospital, Halar road, Nanakawada, Valsad, Gujarat - 396001, India; 4Department of Surgery, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, AIIMS Campus, Tatibandh, Raipur, Chhattisgarh 492099, India; 5Department of Anesthesiology, Madha Medical College & Research Institute, Kovur, Chennai - 600128, Tamil Nadu, India; 6Department of Central Research Laboratory, Sri Venkateswaraa Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Ariyur, Puducherry- 605102, India; *Corresponding author
Laxmi L Sen - E-mail: dr.ll.sen.udr@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9413093828
Shireesh M Ninama - E-mail: Shireesh.ninama@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9427802547
Jemish B Patel - E-mail: emspatel87@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9909915464
Jeewan Verma - E-mail: dr.jeewanverma@gmail.com; Phone: +91 7987605198
Manchireddy Manish - E-mail: manishreddy03@gmail.com; Phone: +91 8524877832
Madhan Sugumar - E-mail: micromadhan@gmail.com; Phone: +91 9894177172
Article Type
Research Article
Date
Received April 1, 2026; Revised April 30, 2026; Accepted April 30, 2026, Published April 30, 2026
Abstract
Blunt abdominal trauma is a major cause of preventable morbidity and mortality and rapid identification of intra-abdominal injury is critical for timely intervention. Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of focused assessment with sonography in trauma (FAST) using computed tomography and operative findings as the composite reference standard in 250 adult patients. Intra-abdominal injury was confirmed in 26.0% of patients and FAST demonstrated a sensitivity of 76.9%, specificity of 91.9%, positive predictive value of 76.9%, negative predictive value of 91.9% and overall accuracy of 88.0%. Sensitivity was higher in hemodynamically unstable patients (90.5%) compared to stable patients (71.1%), while specificity remained high in both groups. Thus, FAST is a rapid and highly specific bedside tool that is particularly valuable for triaging unstable patients, although its moderate sensitivity necessitates confirmatory imaging in stable individuals.
Keywords
Focused assessment with sonography in trauma (FAST), blunt abdominal trauma (BAT), diagnostic accuracy, ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), sensitivity, specificity
Citation
Sen et al. Bioinformation 22(4): 2005-2009 (2026)
Edited by
A Prashanth
ISSN
0973-2063
Publisher
License
This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.
