Commentary: sonography in the evaluation of children following blunt trauma: is it to be or not to be?

Over the past decade CT scanning has become generally accepted in North America as the diagnostic modality of choice for the evaluation of abdominal injury in children following blunt trauma [1-5]. Recently, there has been increasing interest in the use of sonography as the primary screening examination in this area. Initial studies utilizing sonography in the evaluation of trauma patients focused primarily on identifying hemoperitoneum in adults [6-8]. More recent studies have also attempted to evaluate the accuracy of sonography for the diagnosis of solid viscus injury [9-14]. Filiatraut and colleagues recently reported a long and successful experience using sonography for the investigation of blunt abdominal trauma in children [12]. Their work in this area should be applauded. However, whether widespread application of this modality can be successful remains uncertain. In the space below a critical evaluation of sonography and CT in the assessment of injured children is presented.