Blunt scrotal injury represents a diagnostic dilemma for emergency physicians (EP). Consequently, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has emerged as a tool for early investigation of the acute scrotum in the emergency department. We describe a case where an EP used scrotal POCUS to immediately visualize the loss of testicular contour and underlying heterogeneous parenchyma to rapidly make the diagnosis of testicular rupture in a young male presenting with scrotal trauma. The use of POCUS in this case expedited therapy, likely improving the patient’s outcome. To our knowledge, this is the first detailed description of testicular rupture diagnosed with POCUS by an EP

Isolated pelvic deep vein thromboses (DVT) are rare and difficult to diagnose, but they are more common in pregnant women and carry an increased risk of embolization. Pulmonary embolism is the most common non-obstetric cause of death in pregnancy. Compression ultrasound is the first-line imaging test for suspected lower extremity DVT, but it cannot usually aid in directly visualizing or easily diagnosing isolated pelvic DVT. Nonetheless, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) may provide valuable clues to help rule in pelvic DVT and expedite initiation of anticoagulant therapy. Such findings include increased venous diameter, increased resistance to compression, visible venous reflux, and blunted phasicity. This case presents an example of how these findings on POCUS led the emergency physician to make the difficult diagnosis of pelvic DVT at the bedside within seconds.

A 15-day-old male who was born at term presented with non-bilious projectile vomiting. He was nontoxic and his abdomen was benign without masses. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) showed hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS). Typical findings include target sign; pyloric muscle thickness greater than three millimeters (mm); channel length greater than 15–18 mm; and lack of gastric emptying. The patient was admitted; consultative ultrasound (US) was negative, but repeated 48 hours later for persistent vomiting. This second US was interpreted as HPS, which was confirmed surgically. Pyloromyotomy was successful. Few reports describe POCUS by general emergency physicians to diagnose HPS. Here, we emphasize the value in repeat US for patients with persistent symptoms.

A 38-year-old female presented to the emergency department (ED) with acute-onset right lower quadrant abdominal pain following two days of nausea and vomiting. Physical examination revealed right lower quadrant tenderness to palpation, rebound tenderness, and guarding. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) of the right lower abdomen was performed and interpreted as probable appendicitis. However, upon laparoscopic examination of the abdomen, a benign-appearing appendix was visualized. Further investigation revealed the source of the patient’s pain to be a torsed Meckel’s diverticulum. Although rare, a torsed and inflamed Meckel’s diverticulum can be visualized by POCUS in the ED without the need for further imaging or delay.