Point-of-Care Ultrasound

Abstract

Purpose of the Review Point-of-care ultrasound using small ultrasound devices has expanded beyond emergency and critical care medicine to many other subspecialties. Awareness of the strengths and limitations of the technology and knowledge of the appropriate settings and common indications for point-of-care ultrasound is important. Recent Findings Point-of-care ultrasound is widely embraced as an extension of the physical exam and is employed in acute care and medical education settings. Echocardiography laboratories involved in education must individualize training to the intended scope of practice of the user. Advances in artificial intelligence may assist in image acquisition and interpretation by novice users. Summary Point-of-care ultrasound is widely available in a variety of clinical settings. The field has advanced substantially in the past 2 decades and will likely continue to expand with advancement in technology, reduced cost, and improved opportunities to assist new users.

Point of care ultrasound in acutely breathless patients-A qualitative study of the enablers and challenges in a teaching hospital in Kenya

“…As with all training courses, the curriculum should delineate the appropriate use of POCUS and help trainees to recognize device limitations with emphasis on the incorporation of the findings into the clinical context of the patient at hand. [20] Trainings should also be embedded within an accreditation model to ensure consistency and upholding of the set standards. Overuse of ultrasound especially for commercial gains is a real threat to PoCUS adoption and this can lead to many unnecessary scans could be performed when not indicated, mainly for financial gain.…”

“…Limitations include capital costs, and high training and experience requirements required for accurate usage. [20] The majority of PoCUS protocols have been developed and implemented in high-resource settings where more advanced imaging technology is usually available to help the clinician confirm their ultrasound diagnosis. [9] There is a need for context-specific ultrasound protocols suited to the needs and available resources in low resource settings.…”

Assessing left ventricular systolic function by emergency physician using point of care echocardiography compared to expert: systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Five studies that used visual estimation by clinician sonographers and published after 2010 [ 25 , 27 , 29 , 31 , 32 ] showed higher pooled agreement compared to those two studies before 2010 [ 22 , 23 ]: κ = 0.7 (95% CI, 0.55–0.84) vs. κ = 0.64 (95% CI, 0.46–0.84). This may reflect the improvement in technology and training for clinician sonographers [ 62 ].…”

Echocardiographic Assessment of Patients with Pulmonary Tumor Thrombotic Microangiopathy First Diagnosed in the Emergency Department

“…This study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Samsung Medical Center (IRB file number 2021-04-127). Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has been widely used worldwide as a valuable tool for rapid bedside evaluation and treatment of patients with dyspnea [5,6]. Adding POCUS to the usual diagnostic approaches that rely on radiological and laboratory results has been shown to improve diagnostic accuracy and reduce diagnostic time through bedside evaluations of thoracic lesions and heart function [7,8].…”