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Christine S. Cocanour, MD

Arch Surg. 2009;144(2):142.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

The article by Moriwaki et al highlights the use of US for the diagnosis of IPFA in patients with acute abdominal pain or traumatic injury. The use of US for the diagnosis of IPFA was proposed as early as 1982,¹ and numerous published studies^2-4 have demonstrated its superiority to plain radiographs. Although CT remains the criterion standard in the diagnosis of IPFA, US has the advantages of being simple, rapid, inexpensive, and dynamic, and it can be used repeatedly as often as necessary without known harm to the patient.⁵

There is no doubt that, in the hands of Moriwaki et al, US is accurate. However, there are several caveats to the use of US for the diagnosis of IPFA. Nearly all studies that advocate the use of US for the diagnosis of free air are from outside of the United States. In the United States, CT . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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Ultrasonography for the Diagnosis of Intraperitoneal Free Air in Chest-Abdominal-Pelvic Blunt Trauma and Critical Acute Abdominal Pain
Yoshihiro Moriwaki, Mitsugi Sugiyama, Hiroshi Toyoda, Takayuki Kosuge, Sinju Arata, Masayuki Iwashita, Yoshio Tahara, and Noriyuki Suzuki
Arch Surg. 2009;144(2):137-141.
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