TEE Simulators Shown to be Effective POCUS Education Tools
Two studies published by the National Institutes of Health show promising results for the use of simulators in the training of emergency physicians (EP) in performing transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). In the study “Focused transesophageal echocardiography for emergency physicians—description and results from simulation training of a structured four-view examination”, a post-workshop survey of a convenience sample of 14 EPs revealed that all study participants were “satisfied” or “extremely satisfied” with the educational session. 12 of the EPs (85.7 %) participants reported feeling…
Taking the Clinic to the Mountain
Dr. Philippe Mahiou practises anaesthesia in the Grenoble area of France, splitting his time between a private clinic and working as a helicopter doctor attending mountaineering accidents. As part of his work, Dr. Mahiou routinely uses ultrasound, and understands the importance of the technology for both guiding anaesthesia in the operating room and assessing patients in the field.Around 80% of my work is at the Clinic des Cèdres, a private clinic near Grenoble, where approximately 7,000 to 8,000 trauma and orthopaedic procedures are performed every year. I frequently use ultrasound to guide…
In Case of Emergency, Use POCUS
Time is of the essence in the emergency department, where a prompt diagnosis can litreally mean the difference between life and death.In this environment, access to point-of-care ultrasound is essential, providing vital information to help clinicians rapidly determine the most appropriate course of action for emergency patients. Dr. Martin Langer, clinical lead for emergency medicine at the Evangelisches Krankenhaus Unna, describes the importance of ultrasound in his department.The Evangelisches Krankenhaus Unna is a 324-bed, district hospital in Germany that includes a certified stroke unit…
Evaluating the Benefits of Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Geriatric Medicine
Dr. Nicolas Azulay is a general medicine doctor specializing in scheduled and emergency ultrasound examinations at the University Hospitals of Nice, France, where he works at the Pasteur II and Cimiez hospitals. As part of the clinical research program GERICARE, he recently studied the impact of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) assessment of patients admitted to the short-stay geriatric unit at Cimiez hospital.
I graduated in general medicine but, after six years in practice, I realized that I was more attracted to diagnostic exploration techniques, where I can investigate the anatomy and…
POCUS Profile: Dr. T. Sivashanmugam
Dr. T. Sivashanmugam MD, DNB in Anaesthesiology, PDCC, FRCP is a Professor in Anaesthesiology at Mahatma Gandhi Medical College & Research Institute, a 1500-bed tertiary care teaching university hospital at Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu, India. He has more than ten years’ experience in practicing ultrasound-guided regional anaesthesia (USGRA). For the last five years, Dr. Sivashanmugam teaches and trains residents in anaesthesiology.He initially started using Sonosite MicroMaxx ultrasound machine in 2009, and then shifted to NanoMaxx, M-Turbo, EDGE II, and eventually, X-Porte systems. Dr.…
Addressing Addiction and Pain Management in Our Nation’s Military and Veteran Populations
Over the last two years, the U.S. Pain Management Best Practises Inter-Agency Task Force studied how pain is treated in the military and veteran populations to make recommendations to improve the treatment of acute and chronic pain. The Task Force issued its report earlier this summer, “Pain Management Best Practises: Updates, Gaps, Inconsistencies, and Recommendations,” which highlights the barriers to optimal pain care and the reduction of opioid misuse among veterans and military personnel.The Task Force report discusses the challenges in treating pain that are specific to the military and…
Emergency Physician Brings Ultrasound to Rural Guatemala
Emergency physician Dr. Elijah Katz has worked with Sonosite ultrasound machines for several clinical and teaching missions around the world. Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a large part of Dr. Katz’s practise both at home and abroad, and he currently serves as a Fellow in Combined Clinical Ultrasound and Global Health in the Department of Emergency Medicine at University of Texas, San Antonio. His most recent medical trip was the 2019 ¡Vamos Guatemala! mission, a biannual project with the Long School of Medicine at UT San Antonio. Dr. Katz was one of four supervising doctors from UT San…
Medical Mission to Kenya Introduces High School Students to Ultrasound
Dr. Martin Kelly is an attending physician in the Emergency Medicine Residency Program at Darnall Army Medical Center, Fort Hood, Texas. He has been involved in mission trips for 15 years, most of them in conjunction with Maranatha Volunteers International located in Sacramento, California. Dr. Kelly was kind enough to write a report about this nonprofit and its collaboration with Sonosite.
Maranatha Volunteers International is a non-profit Christian organization with the primary focus of organizing volunteers to build churches and schools in developing nations. They sponsor many short…
Charitable Medical Mission Uses Ultrasound for Maternal Care in Zambia
Australian nonprofit Globalinks Medical Foundation is dedicated to providing healthcare to global communities in remote locations where access to healthcare services is limited. Globalinks was founded by Dr. Peter Locke and his wife Carolyn following their experiences volunteering overseas, where they witnessed a prevalence of of illness, disease, and child mortality rates, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.
Globalinks works with local health staff, providing much needed supplies and equipment and planning with local health ministries to achieve sustainable progress towards positive health…
U.S. Government Report Provides Recommendations and Opportunities during National Pain Management Month
Earlier this summer, the U.S. Pain Management Best Practises Inter-Agency Task Force issued the report “Pain Management Best Practises: Updates, Gaps, Inconsistencies, and Recommendations.” The U.S. Pain Management Best Practises Inter-Agency Task Force (Task Force) was created under the 2016 Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) to address the treatment of acute and chronic pain that has driven the nation’s opioid epidemic. The report’s release is particularly timely since September is National Pain Management Month, when policymakers and stakeholders across the healthcare…
Spreading POCUS across Northern Spain
The rapid scanning and dynamic imaging capabilities offered by point-of-care ultrasound make it an invaluable tool for emergency medicine. Dr. Enrique Ortiz Villacian (from Emergency Services at Donostia University Hospital in San Sebastián) and Dr. Juajo Zafra Sanchez (from the Emergency Unit at San Eloy Hospital in Barakaldo) discussed the role ultrasound plays in their respective emergency departments, as well as their formation of an ultrasound training programme SonoNorte for clinicians across northern Spain and further afield.The emergency department at Donostia University Hospital was…
The Value of Ultrasound for Nephrology
Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) systems are becoming a common sight in nephrology departments and renal dialysis clinics, helping clinical staff to evaluate and effectively access the vasculature of dialysis patients. Dr. Jean-Yves Bosc, a nephrologist and vascular doctor working at the nonprofit private health establishment AIDER SANTÉ in the South of France, has been a champion of ultrasound for over a decade. He explained the benefits of this technology as part of the overall care package for patients with kidney disease.
AIDER SANTÉ specializes in nephrology and renal replacement…
Benefits of Ultrasound Guided Cannulation
Thanks to an Emergency Medicine Foundation (EMF) research grant, a new ultrasound guided cannulation training initiative is helping emergency department clinicians in Australia more easily find a patient’s vein for cannulation. Gold Coast University Hospital Emergency Department physician Dr. Amy Archer-Jones was awarded an EMF research grant to lead a year-long study analyzing the effectiveness of an ultrasound training intervention.
Dr. Archer-Jones said the results of the study were good news for older patients and patients with chronic diseases or illness who are in regular need of…
Learn Here. Not Here.
Because ultrasound is not extensively taught in medical schools, clinicians are often left scrambling to learn this essential technology in an often chaotic ER or other high-pressure situations. Sonosite Institute was designed to address this very issue. Sonosite Institute empowers POCUS users to learn ultrasound techniques, applications, and best practises wherever and whenever it’s convenient for them.Sonosite Institute’s online courses, extensive eLibrary, webinars, and additional resources allow users to learn at their own pace in a relaxed, well-organised setting instead of a hectic…
Using POCUS for the Patient in Shock
In a 2018 article published in the ICU: Management & Practise section of HealthMangement.org, Drs. Adrian Wong and Jonathan Wilkinson discussed the benefits of deploying point-of-care ultrasound for patients in various forms of shock. They conclude that POCUS can help the clinician to more accurately identify the type of shock, or the coexistence of different types of shock. With proper target management strategies, ultrasound is an invaluable tool for emergency physicians and intensivists.
Shock is a common enough occurrence in the ED and ICU, and can co-exist in different forms. The…
Dr. Trish Henwood Publishes Article about Using POCUS to Treat Ebola
Emergency physician Dr. Trish Henwood, president and co-founder of the PURE Initiative, has been in the frontlines of the battle against Ebola since 2014, when she traveled to Liberia to confront an outbreak. Dr. Henwood recently wrote an article for The New England Journal of Medicine outlining the lessons she has learned since those extremely challenging days.Dr. Henwood begins her article in the starkest terms: “Half my patients died. They died from one disease, but so many different deaths.” From that sobering introduction, she explains how clinical appearance did not always predict an…
Ultrasound Helps Intravenous Line Insertion for Children with Difficult Access
In a July 2019 study published in Annals of Emergency Medicine, researchers determined that ultrasound-guided line insertions improves the first-attempt success rates over traditional palpation methods for children with predicted difficult access.
Previous research had shown successful first-attempt rates were approximately 75% for paediatric intravenous lines, with children with difficult access sometimes requiring multiple attempts.1, 2 Difficulty in obtaining line access often results in diagnostic and treatment delays as well as more pain and anxiety for the patient and family. If…
Doctor Uses Ultrasound-Guided Injections to Treat Peruvian Farmers
Sports medicine specialist Dr. David Sealy, MD CAQSM works with the Volunteers in Medical Missions, a Christian medical organisation that sends 15 to 18 medical missions a year to countries around the world. Dr. Sealy returned from a 10-day trip in the high Andes in Peru, visiting five villages over a five-day period to provide medical care. Dr. Sealy’s team included eight doctors, two nurses, a Pharm.D., and five more volunteers. Partnering with a church in Lima, his team set up clinics in schools, churches, posta medicas (small public health clinics), and other community buildings. They saw…
POCUS Profile: Nurse Practitioner Matt Ostroff
Matt Ostroff, MSN APN VABC, the vascular access coordinator at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Paterson, New Jersey, is leading a revolution in point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS). Ostroff has helped pioneer a multi-disciplinary approach for vascular access, bringing different specialists to the patient bedside. Bedside vascular access saves patients pain, time, and expense, while greatly increasing safety. The medical community has taken notice. Dr. Benita Zahn of News13 in Albany, New York recently interviewed Ostroff about his groundbreaking work, where he discussed his “secret”—ultrasound-guided…
Ultrasound Helps Canadian Doctor Give Back to Her Two Countries
Emergency physician Dr. Chau Pham is the founder and Co-Chair of Canadians Helping Kids in Vietnam (CHKV), an organisation established in 1995 to help improve the lives of the poorest in Vietnam by improving conditions that directly empower children.
Dr. Pham knows all too well the challenges Vietnamese children face. She was a refugee herself, coming to Canada from Vietnam when she was seven years old in 1983. She was diagnosed with TB, and had to stay in a Thai refugee camp for treatment for a year before she was admitted into Canada. It was during this formative time that she came to…