Contribution of EFAST Ultrasound in the Management of Chest and Abdomen’s Blunt Trauma in the City of Parakou, Benin

Background: Blunt thoracic and abdominal traumas are frequent and have a poor prognosis in the absence of prompt diagnosis and adequate management. An ultrasound performed in the emergency room allows a precise diagnosis and a better orientation of the victims. Objective: To assess the contribution of EFAST ultrasound in the management of blunt thoracic and abdominal traumas. Patients and method: Cross-sectional descriptive and analytical study with prospective data collection carried out from February 20th to August 20th, 2017 in the emergency and intensive care units of the Parakou University Hospital Centre. An ultrasound machine fitted with a 3.5 MHz convex probe was used to search for post-traumatic effusion by the EFAST technique on admission and then as needed over 24 hours and after surgery. Results: Sixty-three patients were collected with an 85.71% male predominance. The average age was 31.36 ± 13.29 years. The time to perform the EFAST ultrasound was 7 ± 3 min. EFAST was positive in 50.79% of patients. Five patients (7.93%) received emergency treatment for hemodynamic instability and positive EFAST within an average of 3.46 ± 2 hours. Eighteen patients (27.58%) received after monitoring by EFAST, surgery within 9 hours 12 minutes (hemoperitoneum) and 27 hours 58 minutes (hemothorax). Two patients were tested positively for EFAST after surgery. Conclusion: The introduction of an EFAST ultrasound as a sorting tool in an environment with limited resources is desirable and feasible.