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Implementation of the FAST exam to reduce time to the operating room with blunt abdominal trauma
Dissertation   Open access

Implementation of the FAST exam to reduce time to the operating room with blunt abdominal trauma

Stacey N. Gibson
Doctor of Nursing Practice (D.N.P.), Drexel University
08 Jun 2024
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00002031
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Abstract

Focused assessment with sonography for trauma FAST exam Blunt abdominal trauma Blunt abdominal injury Early surgical intervention Level one trauma center Exploratory laparotomy
Background The Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma (FAST) exam is a vital tool for promptly evaluating patients in the emergency department who have sustained blunt abdominal trauma (BAT). Its primary goal is to identify intraabdominal bleeding and hasten the process of initiating early surgical intervention. Methods During the 4-week PDSA cycle, 38 patients with known or suspected BAT were involved. Upon arrival, 32 of the patients underwent a FAST Exam. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the remaining 6 patients did not have a FAST Exam upon arrival and were subsequently excluded from the study. Results There was a remarkable improvement in the time lapses from patient arrival to the emergency department to surgical intervention between the pre-and post-standardization phases. The mean time decreased from 166.63 minutes before standardization to 80.16 minutes after standardization, showing an impressive overall improvement of 86.47 minutes. This noteworthy improvement was statistically significant, with a p-value of less than 0.05. Conclusion The data collected from this QI project unequivocally demonstrates that employing the FAST Exam significantly enhances the time frame comparisons between pre- and post-standardizations.

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