[Emergency ultrasonography].

We reviewed the emergency US exams carried out in the Radiology Department of the Sesto S. Giovanni Hospital on patients referred from the First Aid, Surgery and Medicine Depts in 1994. 202 of 8,400 US exams (2.7%) were emergencies in patients of both sexes aged 15 to 83 years. The exams were carried out in the daytime by 4 radiologists with different (longer/shorter) experience. The results were arranged in tables showing the referring department, the number of exams according to the anatomical district, the number of negative exams (122 cases) and of the exams where the clinical suspicion was confirmed (80 cases), as well as the frequency of the different conditions diagnosed. The conditions usually involved the abdominal organs and particularly the bile ducts (48 cases), showing gallstones which were quickly operated on. Renal colics were the second most frequent finding (10 cases). The results of many precautionary exams were poorly significant. Considering the numerous indications of emergency US, currently including also acute appendicitis and soft periskeletal tissue traumas, we conclude that more operators and technically adequate equipment are needed.