Baseline Evaluation of Lymph Nodes in the Lower Quadrant Young People Using Point of Care Ultrasound (BELLY-POCUS)

Baseline Evaluation of Lymph Nodes in the Lower Quadrant Young People Using Point of Care Ultrasound

Status

Recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT07704814

Acronym

BELLY POCUS

Enrollment

500

Registered

2026-07-15

Start date

2026-04-09

Completion date

2026-12-01

Last updated

2026-07-17

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

Conditions

Lymph Nodes

Keywords

point of care ultrasound, POCUS, lymph nodes, right lower quadrant

Brief summary

Abdominal pain is one of the commonest presentations to the paediatric emergency department. Many children are brought to the PED due to concerns about surgical intra-abdominal pathology such as appendicitis. Mesenteric adenitis is commonly attributed as a cause of the patient's pain but is done so without confirmatory imaging findings and as a diagnosis of exclusion. There is a paucity of evidence pertaining to the sonographic findings of mesenteric adenitis. The investigators aim to categorise the normal appearances using POCUS in patients presenting to the paediatric emergency department without any abdominal or infectious complaint, in order to describe the range of normal lymph node numbers and size present on scan. By defining what's normal, the ultimate aim will be to use POCUS to actively identify abnormalities that diagnose mesenteric adenitis.

Interventions

None listed

Study design

Observational model

OTHER

Time perspective

PROSPECTIVE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

2 Years to 16 Years

Healthy volunteers

Yes

Inclusion criteria

\- patients aged 2 - 16 years who present to the paediatric emergency department with the following conditions: head injury, facial injury, neck injury, upper and lower limb injury.

Exclusion criteria

* any child who has had symptoms of vomiting (including those with concurrent head injury), diarrhoea, abdominal pain, anorexia, temperature or active evidence of urinary or respiratory tract infection within the last four weeks. Any patient who has undergone abdominal surgery in the last 6 months.

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame	Description
Number and sizes of lymph nodes present in the right lower quadrant on abdominal POCUS	6 months	To describe the normal range, in terms of the number and size of lymph nodes present in the right lower quadrant on abdominal POCUS in asymptomatic children.

Countries

United Kingdom

Contacts

CONTACTDavid McCreary, MBBS MRCPCH PgC US

david.mccreary2@nhs.net+447399538119

Outcome results