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Point of Care Ultrasound and Renal Colic

Impact of the Use of Point of Care Ultrasound on the Length of Stay in the Emergency Department During an Episode of Renal Colic

Status
UNKNOWN
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04169555
Acronym
ECHOLINE
Enrollment
70
Registered
2019-11-20
Start date
2019-10-07
Completion date
2020-07-31
Last updated
2019-11-20

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Renal Colic

Keywords

ultrasound, renal colic, emergency room, point of care

Brief summary

The management of renal colic in emergency departments follows the recommendations established at the 8th consensus conference of 2008 on the management of renal colic in emergency services. It recommends the control of pain by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and analgesics, the implementation of an urinary test strip and the use of emergency imaging for compiled forms and patient with medical specificities. Currently, two imaging techniques are recommended during an episode of renal colic: 1. Abdominal x-ray/Ultrasound or non-injected scanner for simple forms to be performed within 24-48h 2. The non-injected scanner for complicated forms In simple forms, the decision to perform any examination remains at the discretion of the physician but with a tendency to carry out a scanner systematically even in the absence of criteria of severity or complication. The use of the scanner exposes the patient to large doses of radiation even if it is a low dose scanner. In recent years, studies have been conducted to determine whether the ultrasound, particularly point of care ultrasound performed by an emergency physician could be an alternative in the management of renal colic. Studies show that the sensitivity and specificity of ultrasound is comparable to that of the scanner. It has been found that the performance of an ultrasound by the emergency physician allows the decrease in irradiation and also in costs. In 2014,a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine emphasized that the ultrasound performed by the emergency physician would perform just as well as that performed by the radiologist and would result in a decreased time in the emergency room. The Korean study, published in 2016 in the Clinical and Experimental Emergency Medicine (CEEM), despite some statistical inconsistencies, shows a significant reduction in the time of care by 74 minutes. In this context, we would like to conduct a single-centre, randomised, controlled, open-label study comparing a group of patients benefiting from point of care ultrasound versus a group of patients not benefiting from it. The goal is to determine whether the early ultrasound performed by the emergency physician by detecting expansions of the pelvicalyceal cavities reduces the time spent in the emergency department.

Interventions

PROCEDUREUltrasound

The emergency physician will perform a point of care ultrasound. If signs of expansions of the pelvicalyceal cavities are found, an early CT scan will follow

OTHERStandard care

Standard clinical care of patients. In regards of the clinical evolution and of biological results, a CT scan could be performed by the physician.

Sponsors

Lille Catholic University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
DIAGNOSTIC
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Adult patients admitted in ER for suspicion of simple renal colic * Signed informed consent

Exclusion criteria

* protected adults (tutorship or guardianship) * fever ≥ 38.5°C * chronic endstage kidney failure (Glomerular filtration rate \< 30%) * Solitary kidney * Urinary tract catheter or percutaneous nephrectomy * Pregnancy * traumatic back pain * Renal colic diagnosis in the past three months

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frame
Time between admission and discharge from the emergency roomDay one

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Patients satisfaction scaleAn average of 24 hours5 questions to be answered by the patients rated on 1-10 scales being equivalent to 1 being equivalent to no, certainly not and 10 being equivalent to yes, certainly yes . An overall score of 50 will be calculated to assess patient satisfaction.
Physician satisfaction scale9 months5 questions to be answered by the physicians rated on 1-10 scales being equivalent to 1 being equivalent to no, certainly not and 10 being equivalent to yes, certainly yes . An overall score of 50 will be calculated to assess physician satisfaction.
Ultrasound diagnostic performance to detect expansions of the pelvicalyceal cavities9 monthsThe diagnostic performance of the ultrasound for the detection of dilation of pyelocalicial cavities will be evaluated by sensitivity and specificity. The Gold Standard will be the result of the scanner

Countries

France

Contacts

Primary ContactAmélie Lansiaux, MD, PhD
lansiaux.amelie@ghicl.net0320225269
Backup ContactJean-Jacques Vitagliano
vitagliano.jean-jacques@ghicl.net0320225751

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026