Central Venous Access
Key Points • Ultrasound guidance for placement of central venous catheters reduces mechanical complications, including pneumothorax and arterial puncture, and has become the standard of care for placement in the…
Lumbar Puncture
Key Points • Ultrasound increases the success rate of lumbar puncture by improving landmark identification of the lumbar spine’s midline and interspaces. • Identification of spinal landmarks with ultrasound relies…
Lymph Nodes
Key Points • Evaluation of enlarged lymph nodes with ultrasound includes assessment of size, shape, echogenicity, borders, and vascularity. In general, normal-sized lymph nodes are <1 cm, but size varies by…
Inferior Vena Cava
Key Points • The inferior vena cava (IVC) is readily visualized using point-of-care ultrasound and can guide fluid management decisions, especially when taken in context of cardiac and lung findings….
Abdominal Pain
Key Points • Point-of-care ultrasound assessment of unstable patients with abdominal pain should begin with an evaluation for hemorrhage, followed by an evaluation for infectious sources. • Point-of-care ultrasound assessment…
Arterial Access
Key Points • Use of ultrasound to guide arterial line placement increases success rate of cannulation and reduces periprocedural complications. • Nontraditional arterial cannulation sites with few landmarks can be…
Equipment, Image Archiving, and Billing
Key Points • When considering ultrasound machine purchasing, the scope of examinations, clinical setting, and skill set of the end users should guide the choice of make and model, transducers,…
Competence, Credentialing, and Certification
Key Points • An increasing number of point-of-care ultrasound applications are now required components of training in certain specialties, and training standards for attaining competency are being developed for trainees…
Upper Extremity Deep Venous Thrombosis
Key Points • Upper extremity deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is underdiagnosed, and the incidence of pulmonary embolism due to upper extremity DVT is underestimated. • The major veins of the…
Peripheral Venous Access
Key Points • Ultrasound guidance for insertion of a peripheral intravenous (IV) catheter is a useful technique in patients with nonpalpable or nonvisualizable veins. • Patient and operator positioning are…
