Abstract

A short-cut review was carried out to establish whether bedside ultrasound was accurate at diagnosing necrotising fasciitis in patients with limb infections. A total of 187 papers were found using the reported searches, of which one presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of this paper is tabulated. It is concluded that there is limited evidence supporting the use of bedside ultrasound as an adjunct diagnostic tool in differentiating cellulitis from necrotising fasciitis in patients with a limb infection.