ABSTRACT
An 8-year-old girl is brought to your Level I pediatric trauma center by her parents 1 hour after falling from an 8-foot height while playing on slides. She landed on her left side and did not lose consciousness. In the trauma bay, she has a Glasgow coma scale of 15 and complains of generalized abdominal pain. She has a heart rate of 140, blood pressure of 95/70, respiratory rate of 20, and an oxygen saturation of 98% on room air. After a crystalloid fluid bolus of 20 cc/kg, her heart rate drops to 120 and her blood pressure improves to 105/65. She has a mildly distended abdomen with minimal tenderness to palpation, no peritoneal signs, and no external marks. Trauma labs have been sent. An emergency department resident suggests performing a focused abdominal sonography for trauma (FAST) exam as the next step.
