Relevant papers
| Author, date, country | Patient group | Study type | Outcomes | Key results | Study weaknesses |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blaivas et al, 2002, USA | 61 patients presenting with ocular trauma or visual change. Ophthalmic evaluation and CT were used as the gold standard. US were performed by attending physicians who had attended a 1 h lecture and 1 h hands-on instruction on ocular sonography | Prospective observational study | Diagnosis of ocular pathology including RD | 8 patients with RD. 100% sensitivity and specificity | Small numbers. Convenience sample |
| Khan et al, 2005, USA | 1 patient who presented to the ED with decreased visual acuity | Case report | Retinal detachment was found using ocular ultrasound | This is a case report that therefore has a low level of evidence | |
| Lewin et al, 2005, USA | 35-year-old male with sudden visual loss from right eye | Case report | RD diagnosed with US | Case report | |
| Elia et al, 2009, USA | A 79-year-old female with a 1 day history of left eye blindness | Case report | RD diagnosed with ocular ultrasound | Training of ED practitioner not described case report | |
| Yoonessi R et al, 2010, USA | 48 patients presenting to the ED with acute (less than 48 h in duration) visual change who required an ophthalmology review within 12 h of presentation. The criterion standard for retinal detachment was the final diagnosis given by the ophthalmologist who was blinded to the results of the ED ocular ultrasound. All participating emergency practitioners completed an introductory course on emergency ultrasound in the first week of their PGY2 year, received a 20-min lecture with examples of normal and abnormal ocular pathology and completed one emergency ocular ultrasound scan on a normal volunteer | Prospective, observational study | Detection of retinal detachment | RD present in 18 patients. Sensitivity 100% (95% CI 78% to 100), Specificity 83% (95% CI 65% to 94%) | Small numbers 75% of eligible patients had to be excluded due to unavailability of an emergency physician sonographer |
| Shinar et al, 2011, USA | 90 ED patients with suspected RD. Gold standard was ophthalmologist opinion. Practitioners received a 30-min lecture on ocular ultrasound | Prospective observational study | Detection of RD | 29 patients out of 92 assessed had a final diagnosis of RD. US was performed with a sensitivity of 96.5% (95% CI 82% to 100%) and a specificity of 92.0% (95% CI 68% to 95%) | Convenience sample Wide confidence intervals Ophthalmologists were not blinded to the diagnosis made by the ED practitioners |
| Palma J, Schott E, 2013, USA | A patient presenting to the ED with blurred vision and visual loss | Case report | Bilateral retinal detachment diagnosed by ultrasound | Case report | |
| Schott et al, 2013, USA | A 38-year-old woman with acute bilateral visual loss. | Case report | RD correctly diagnosed in right eye, left eye diagnosis on US was RD but actually vitreous detachment | Case report. The diagnoses in this case were difficult to confirm clinically |
ED, emergency department; RD, retinal detachment.