BackgroundPoint of care ultrasound (POCUS) is considered an important diagnostic tool in the Emergency Department.Current developments in technology, the presence of portable ultrasound (US) machines, the improvement of the quality and resolution of the images, have increased the performance of US also in the pre-hospital setting [1,2].Several studies have demonstrated the feasibility and accuracy of pre-hospital US, performed either by physicians or paramedics, in many pre-hospital scenarios including land ambulances and helicopters of the Emergency Medical Services [3][4][5][6].Pre-hospital emergency US should be even more focused, rapid, and problem based than in-hospital point of care US, to reduce morbidity and improve outcomes for patients with life-threatening conditions. The integration of focused US with clinical signs improves diagnostic accuracy and provides crucial information to guide the diagnosis, the therapy and to improve the field triage, in order to deliver the patients to the most appropriate destination [7,8].Many out-of-hospital algorithms have been successfully tested by providers [9], including the focused assessment of sonography for trauma (FAST) and the Extended-FAST [9,10], the focused echocardiography in life support (FEEL) protocol during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) [11], the lung ultrasound (LUS) for the evaluation of respiratory insufficiency [2,12] and the rapid ultrasound for shock and hypotension (RUSH) protocol for hemodynamic instability [13]. The study of the abdominal aorta in a patient with abdominal pain and hemodynamic instability could be another important indication of pre-hospital US [2,14].The evaluation of the aorta is fast, and the dilation of the artery can be easily identified. On the contrary, the diagnosis of a dissection or of a broken aneurysm could be challenging and predicted only by the presence of indirect signs, such as a dilated aorta or the evidence of free fluid in the peritoneum. Nevertheless, when US is closely related to the patient's history and the clinical assessment, diagnostic accuracy can be extremely high [12][13][14][15].This case report analyses the feasibility and usefulness of pre-hospital US for the evaluation of the aorta in a hemodynamically unstable patient.
Case PresentationWe present a case of a 50-year-old man who suddenly lost consciousness while he was working. He remained unconscious for a few minutes and then recovered slowly.
Early identification of aortic dissection with pre-hospital ultrasound: a case report
ABSTRACTBackground: Several studies have demonstrated the feasibility of pre-hospital ultrasound (US) in patients with trauma, cardiac arrest, and respiratory insufficiency. It should be rapid, problem based and the use of specific protocols (focused assessment of sonography for trauma, focused echocardiography in life support, and rapid ultrasound for shock and hypotension) prevents delays.