Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39930510›Full record

Observational studyScandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine2025

Impact of a POCUS-first versus CT-first approach on emergency department length of stay and time to surgical consultation in patients with acute cholecystitis: a retrospective study.

Chien-Tai Huang, Liang-Wei Wang, Shao-Yung Lin, Tai-Yuan Chen, Yi-Ju Ho, Pei-Hsiu Wang, Kao-Lang Liu, Yao-Ming Wu, Hsiu-Po Wang, Wan-Ching Lien

Registry-linked trialAbstract readComparative StudyObservational Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Observational study in Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT04149041 (The Applications of Point-of-care Ultrasound in ED Unselected, Non-critical Patients), which is not on this map. Cited by 7 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT04149041 completednot on this map

The Applications of Point-of-care Ultrasound in ED Unselected, Non-critical Patients

TypeobservationalSponsorNational Taiwan University HospitalRan2019 to 2022Enrolled10,000ConditionsUltrasound Therapy, ComplicationsArmsultrasound
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. POCUS vs. CT in acute cholecystitis: are we really reducing ED length of stay?Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Chien-Tai HuangDepartment of Emergency Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu City, Taiwan.
Liang-Wei WangDepartment of Emergency Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital Yun-Lin Branch, Douliu City, Taiwan.
Shao-Yung LinDepartment of Emergency Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 7, Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei, 100, Taiwan.
Tai-Yuan ChenDepartment of Emergency Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 7, Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei, 100, Taiwan.
Yi-Ju HoDepartment of Emergency Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, No. 7, Chung-Shan South Road, Taipei, 100, Taiwan.
Pei-Hsiu WangDepartment of Emergency Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital Hsin-Chu Branch, Hsinchu City, Taiwan.
Kao-Lang LiuDepartment of Medical Imaging, National Taiwan University Cancer Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
Yao-Ming WuDepartment of Surgery, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Hsiu-Po WangDepartment of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.
Wan-Ching LienDepartment of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. wanchinglien@ntu.edu.tw.

Funding

Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan MOST 111-2410-H-002-001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveThis study aims to evaluate the impact of point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) and computed tomography (CT) on emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS) and time to surgical consultation in patients with mild acute cholecystitis (AC).

methodsAdult patients with CT-confirmed grade I AC were retrospectively enrolled and divided into the PoCUS-first group and the CT-first group. The primary outcome was the relationship between the door-to-ultrasound (US)/CT time and ED-LOS. The secondary outcome was the relationship between the door-to-US/CT time and time to surgical consultation.

resultsA total of 1627 patients were included with 264 in the PoCUS first group. In the PoCUS group, door-to-US time was positively associated with ED-LOS (β = 0.27, p < 0.001) and time to surgical consultation (β = 0.36, p < 0.001). Similarly, door-to-CT time was also positively associated with ED-LOS (β = 0.21, p < 0.001) and time to surgical consultation (β = 0.75, p < 0.001) in the CT group. Conducting PoCUS within 60 min was associated with a reduced ED-LOS and time to surgical consultation, resulting in a saving of 22.4 h and 266 min, respectively. In the CT group, performing CT within 120 min was associated with a reduced ED-LOS and time to surgical consultation, resulting in a decrease of 12 h and 188 min, respectively. The ED-LOS and time to surgical consultation were similar between patients receiving PoCUS within 60 min in PoCUS group and those receiving CT within 120 min in the CT group.

conclusionsPerforming PoCUS within 60 min or CT within 120 min was associated with shorter ED-LOS and earlier surgical consultation, enhancing the ED efficiency in patients with mild AC.

trial registrationNCT04149041 at ClinicalTrial.gov.

Indexed as

Cholecystitis, AcuteEmergency Service, HospitalLength of StayPoint-of-Care SystemsReferral and ConsultationTomography, X-Ray ComputedAdultAgedFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesTime FactorsTime-to-TreatmentUltrasonographyAcute cholecystitisComputed tomographyEmergency departmentLength of stayPoint-of-care ultrasoundSurgical consultation

Identifiers

PMID39930510
PMCPMC11812236

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.