Question 3: Is ultrasonography required to rule out congenital anomalies of the kidneys and urinary tract in babies with isolated preauricular tags or sinuses?

While performing an examination of a newborn, you note a preauricular sinus (PAS). The examination is otherwise unremarkable. A colleague suggests a need for renal ultrasonography in infants with a PAS or preauricular tag (PAT), but your consultant tells you this is unjustified. You decide to search for evidence to inform your clinical decision. Do infants with isolated PAT or PAS (population) have a higher incidence of congenital anomalies of the kidneys and urinary tract (CAKUT) (outcome) on ultrasound (intervention) than infants without (controls)? ### Secondary sources Cochrane Library (21 August 2012)—preauricular OR ‘pre-auricular’—16 results of which none were relevant. ### Primary sources Pubmed (21 August 2012)—(‘pre-auricular’ OR preauricular OR ‘Ear/abnormalities’(MeSH)) AND (kidney OR renal OR urinary OR genitourinary OR ‘Kidney/abnormalities’(MeSH) OR ‘Kidney/ultrasonography’(MeSH) OR ‘Urinary Tract/abnormalities’(MeSH) OR ‘Urinary Tract/ultrasonography’(MeSH)). Five hundred and forty-two articles were found. Titles and/or abstracts were reviewed to identify …