How often do you use POCUS?
Dr. Gordon shares the findings from just three recent ED shifts. There are many negative and indeterminate scans here but it provides a glimpse into how POCUS is included in the thought process for risk stratification and clinical decision making. This patient complained of R flank pain. POCUS revealed a normal kidney, uterus and pelvis. […]
Infectious Mononucleosis? Measure that spleen!
A reminder that POCUS can improve your sensitivity for diagnosing diseases, even in your low acuity patients. We all know the Monspot test can be negative for Mono patients depending on when they present to us. Don’t forget to have a quick look at the spleen if the rest of the clinical presentation points towards […]
Do you use M-mode much?
There are two types of EM POCUS users, those that use M-mode all the time and those that rarely use it. As a POCUS educator I teach M-mode for various applications but admit that I apply it sparingly, often using the “eye-ball” technique for cardiac and pulmonary scans. When it comes to impact on […]
Lung EDE
This patient had fallen on the bathtub and injured his left ribs. CXR 5 days ago showed a slight infiltrate in his LLL. He was sent back with pain and splinting. POCUS showed the diaphragm all around the spleen (you shouldn’t be able to see it above 9 o’clock), with a pleural effusion. It looked […]
Dislocated? POCUS improves clinical exam
The first patient had a shoulder injury and fairly unhelpful X-rays. POCUS revealed both Humeral heads to be in proper postition. The second patient by history had a first dislocation which spontaneously reduced. He was feeling fine when I saw him. POCUS revealed a Hill–Sachs lesion confirming he had dislocated his shoulder and it was […]
Advanced application certification update
So you have been using the core POCUS applications for a while. You have your CEUS IP certification and you supervise scans for students and colleagues when you have the chance. But you aren’t content with your core skill mastery. You attended an advanced application course like EDE 2 and are using many of these new scans […]
Say this 3 times fast… “Tricuspid Annular Plane Systolic Excursion”
At the last EDE 3, Dr Andrea Unger presented the parasternal short axis view and some newer Cardiac EDE concepts. Tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion was one of them, a term which I am hard-pressed to remember! Its acronym, TAPSE, is easier to recall, but Andrea wisely renamed this entity as “Base Jump”. While working […]
Ultrasound for skull fractures
Go to Ken Milne’s The Skeptic’s Guide to Emergency Medicine to see his podcast on using ultrasound to diagnose skull fractures featuring yours truly as a guest. Ken leads the charge for using social media to educate the medical masses. Not only does he run the SGEM podcast but is a member of the Best […]
The Power of POCUS with clinical change
Do you ever feel your POCUS is unnecessary or somehow not as good as the “formal” ultrasound? I sort of wondered what I was going to find as this patient had been to hospital a number of times recently with 2 recent ultrasounds. Probably nothing to find? Well think again. She was able to localize […]
Gamers love POCUS!
We teach femoral and forearm nerve blocks at EDE 2 and a bunch more nerve blocks at EDE 3. The forearm blocks are easier than the femoral block but the indication doesn’t come up as often. At EDE 2, we often get asked about the clinical scenarios in which we would use a forearm block. […]
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