Diagnostic accuracy of point-of-care ultrasound for diverticulitis - a systematic review and meta-analysis - Abstract

Sep 30, 2026

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Diagnostic accuracy of point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) for diverticulitis is assessed through a systematic review and meta-analysis aimed at adult emergency presentations. Diverticulitis is a common emergency department diagnosis requiring imaging for confirmation, and PoCUS is evaluated as a rapid, accessible modality. The study also examines PoCUS performance for complicated diverticulitis using PRISMA-DTA methods, risk-of-bias assessment, and CT or clinical follow-up as reference standards.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

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Pages11

Reading Time28 min

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Abstract

Introduction

Materials and methods

Çelik etal. BMC Emergency Medicine (2026) 26:8 [https://doi.org/10.1186/s12873-025-01431-5](https://doi.org/10.1186/s12873-025-01431-5) BMC Emergency Medicine RESEARCH Open Access Diagnostic accuracy of point-of-care ultrasound for diverticulitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis Ali Çelik1*, EnsarTopaloğlu2 and Mümin Murat Yazıcı2 Abstract Background Diverticulitis is a common emergency department (ED) diagnosis requiring imaging for confirmation. Point-of-care ultrasound (PoCUS) has emerged as a rapid and accessible modality for evaluating acute abdominal conditions. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of PoCUS in detecting acute diverticulitis. As a secondary objective, we evaluated its accuracy in diagnosing complicated diverticulitis. Methods We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis in accordance with PRISMA-DTA guidelines. MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and CENTRAL were searched through February 2025, and risk of bias was assessed using QUADAS-2 . The reference standard was computed tomography (CT) with or without intravenous contrast or comprehensive clinical follow-up. A bivariate random-effects model was used for pooled estimates. Results Six studies (n = 1,420) evaluating PoCUS performed by emergency physicians or other non-radiologist clinicians were included. Pooled sensitivity and specificity of PoCUS for acute diverticulitis were 94%(95% CI: 92–95%) and 86%(95% CI: 72–94%), respectively. Emergency physician-performed PoCUS showed improved specificity (91%, 95% CI: 88–94%) with similar sensitivity (94%, 95% CI: 91–95%) . For complicated diverticulitis, PoCUS demonstrated high specificity (98%, 95% CI: 97–99%) but moderate sensitivity (58%, 95% CI: 46–69%) . Conclusion PoCUS is a highly effective diagnostic tool for diverticulitis, offering high sensitivity and specificity. It serves as a practical first-line imaging modality and may reduce reliance on CT imaging. However, due to its moderate sensitivity for complications, confirmatory imaging such as CT is recommended when complications are suspected. Trial registration PROSPERO (CRD42025648563) . Keywords Point-of-care ultrasound, Diverticulitis, Emergency medicine, Diagnostic accuracy *Correspondence: Ali Çelik[ali.celik@erdogan.edu.tr](ali.celik@erdogan.edu.tr) 1Emergency Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, The Faculty of Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize, Türkiye 2Emergency Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University Training and Research Hospital, Rize, Türkiye © The Author(s) 2025. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit [http://creati](http://creati)[vecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/](vecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.)[.](vecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.) Çelik et al. BMC Emergency Medicine (2026) 26:8 Introduction Diverticulitis is a common emergency department (ED) diagnosis caused by inflammation of colonic diverticula, sac-like protrusions of the bowel wall [1, 2]. Colonic diverti

FAQs

What clinical problem does the study address?

The study addresses the need to confirm diverticulitis in emergency settings using imaging, and evaluates whether PoCUS can provide reliable diagnostic performance.

What reference standard was used to assess diagnostic accuracy?

The reference standard was computed tomography (CT) with or without intravenous contrast or comprehensive clinical follow-up.

How accurate was PoCUS for acute and complicated diverticulitis?

For acute diverticulitis, pooled sensitivity was 94% and specificity was 86%. For complicated diverticulitis, specificity was 98% while sensitivity was 58%.

Sep 30, 2026

Uploaded by Marglet