US won’t come in if pain >12hrs

[u/Former_Bill_1126]

Working at a new site, US techs are very picky, will not come in for torsion studies if pain is >12hrs. I talked her into coming in and she’s pissed af, said she knows I’m new and “I’ll learn the protocol”.

Am I in the wrong?

Edit: Does anyone support the US tech or rad protocol and do you have any studies or evidence to support this practice? I’m just wondering if they pulled this out of their ass or where they got the arbitrary 12 hour thing?

[u/thedailyscanner]

Transvaginal might not always be needed. It’s a pretty tough exam for some patients. Usually we can see transabdominal well enough (depending on body habitus) to rule out torsion. I’d give it pause if they weren’t sexually active, and would do my best to get a diagnostic exam on top first. If that didn’t work and they were totally on board with the vaginal exam though, whatever. Your body, your choice. I think most would want to save their ovaries! But just FYI transvaginal isn’t always better. Some of those little suckers can only be seen transabdominal. A full bladder REALLY helps.

I have worked at one hospital that forbid us to ever do vaginal exams on patients who have never been sexually active, which was silly. But many of my coworkers followed that protocol to the letter.

[u/wewoos → u/thedailyscanner]

Definitely! I warn them that it may be transvaginal, although of course hopefully transabdominal will get us what we need. The sexually active protocol thing I've heard for other hospitals too, but I do find that silly - like if they are using tampons, in my mind, the concern for ovarian loss should outweigh the possible discomfort of the exam. Although of course it's always up to patient and parent in the end.

[u/thedailyscanner → u/thedailyscanner]

Totally. I’ve come to learn that if I treat the vaginal portion like not a huge deal and more as a cool thing they can do to help save their organs, most are on board.