{
  "abstract": "Introduction Abdominal pain is a common presentation in emergency departments. Among these cases, small bowel obstruction (SBO) is a common diagnosis. Diagnostic procedure is currently based on CT, an imaging modality associated with radiation exposure. Studies suggest good accuracy of point of care ultrasound (POCUS) for SBO. Through the OCCLUS-POCUS study, we aim to evaluate the POCUS ability to rule out SBO in patients with low to moderate clinical suspicion, thereby avoiding unnecessary CT scans.Methods and analysis This prospective, observational and multicentre study will involve 15 French emergency departments. Eligible patients will be adults presenting with low or moderate suspicion of SBO (based on Gestalt clinical probability). Exclusion criteria will include prior imaging confirmed SBO, pregnancy or breastfeeding. POCUS will be performed by emergency physicians prior to CT scans, which serve as the diagnostic gold standard. The primary endpoint will be the negative predictive value (NPV) of POCUS for SBO. Secondary endpoints will include POCUS diagnostic accuracy, time intervals between POCUS and CT and factors associated with false-positive or false-negative results. Statistical analyses will estimate the NPV and other diagnostic parameters with 95% CIs. While CT remains the gold standard for diagnosing SBO, this study seeks to validate POCUS as a reliable method for ruling out SBO in low-risk cases, potentially reducing radiation exposure, costs and emergency department length of stay.Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval was obtained from the relevant committee (V1.1 approved on 6 February 2025 by “Comité de Protection des Personnes Nord Ouest 2” – SI24.05744.000388 – 2024-A01942-45). Findings will be disseminated via an international Emergency Medicine journal.Trial registration number ClinicalTrials.gov ( NCT06803628).",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Service Des Urgences, CHU Nantes PHU 3 Urgences Médecines et Prévention, Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France",
        "Faculté de Médecine, Nantes Universite UFR Medecine et Techniques Medicales, Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France"
      ],
      "name": "Mathilde Papin"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Service Des Urgences, CHU Nantes PHU 3 Urgences Médecines et Prévention, Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France",
        "Faculté de Médecine, Nantes Universite UFR Medecine et Techniques Medicales, Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France"
      ],
      "name": "Quentin Le Bastard"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Service Des Urgences, CHU Nantes PHU 3 Urgences Médecines et Prévention, Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France",
        "Direction de la Recherche et de l’Innovation, CHU Nantes, Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France"
      ],
      "name": "Maëva Saignes"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Plateforme de Méthodologie et Biostatistique, Direction de la Recherche et de l’Innovation, CHU Nantes, Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France"
      ],
      "name": "Aurélie Le Thuaut"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Service Des Urgences, CHU Nantes PHU 3 Urgences Médecines et Prévention, Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France",
        "Faculté de Médecine, Nantes Universite UFR Medecine et Techniques Medicales, Nantes, Pays de la Loire, France"
      ],
      "name": "Philippe Le Conte"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Contribution of point of care ultrasound for ruling out small bowel obstruction in emergency departments: study protocol of the diagnostic, observational, prospective and multicentre OCCLUS-POCUS study",
  "uid": "58fa709c-1f12-5ce7-93a5-ed31acae1a27"
}