Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (FAST)

This is a brief series of performing the Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma or FAST examination. Note the extended fast would include assessment for Pneumothorax which is covered in the post on Thoracic Ultrasound.

To begin the FAST we should choose probe. Generally we'll use the wide footprint Curvilinear, although you could potentially use a phased array probe here. We find the indicator, put some gel on there just to confirm that the indicator does correspond to the left side of the screen as it is viewed, similar to all other exams we're doing.

So here you can see the gel coming down. We place the probe on the patient generally for blunt trauma starting in the right upper quadrant or right plank to try to get a view of Morison's pouch, the Hepatorenal space. The indicator should be directed towards the patient's head and this is a Coronal plane, the plane is parallel to the bed.

This is the image we should see on the screen. The face of the probe is on the right plank. The indicator is directed towards the patient's head. You can see the Diaphragm superior to the Liver and just below the Liver with the Morison's pouch or Hepatorenal space between the Kidney and the Liver and that's where we're looking for fluid. You can also a rib shadow coming down there.