Journal of ultrasound in medicine : official journal of the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
-
Comparative Study
Emergency Department Resource Use in Pediatric Pneumonia: Point-of-Care Lung Ultrasonography versus Chest Radiography.
Point-of-care lung ultrasonography (US) is an alternative to chest radiography for imaging of suspected community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) in children. We compared pediatric emergency department (ED) time metrics between children who received point-of-care lung US versus chest radiography. Secondary objectives were comparisons of health system costs and other resources in these imaging groups. ⋯ In children undergoing imaging for suspected CAP in our pediatric ED, point-of-care lung US by pediatric emergency medicine physicians was associated with decreased time and cost compared with chest radiography.
-
Observational Study
Real-time Tracheal Ultrasound for the Confirmation of Endotracheal Intubations in the Intensive Care Unit: An Observational Study.
Current methods to confirm endotracheal tube (ETT) placement have varying degrees of effectiveness and time to completion. We aimed to study the accuracy of real-time tracheal ultrasound (US) to confirm ETT placement in the intensive care unit (ICU) setting. ⋯ Tracheal US can be highly accurate in identifying the location of the ETT, in real time, in ICU patients undergoing emergent intubation. Although our study shows a great potential of real-time US use during emergent intubations, larger studies would be needed to further evaluate the accuracy of this technique.
-
Observational Study
An Exploratory Study of Sectra Table Visualization Improves the Effectiveness of Emergency Bedside Echocardiography Training.
Echocardiography is an essential tool in emergency medicine, and its training is the most challenging of all types of bedside ultrasound (US) training. This study investigated the effectiveness of the Sectra Table (Sectra AB, Linköping, Sweden), an anatomy visualization and collaboration tool, in improving the quality of echocardiography training for emergency medicine physicians. ⋯ Our analysis suggests that integrating the Sectra Table into echocardiography training may improve the effectiveness of training programs.
-
Radiology residents typically learn ultrasound-guided procedures by performing supervised procedures on patients who may experience longer procedure times and higher complication rates. The purpose of this study was to determine if existing technologies, such as in-plane, fixed-angle guidance (IPFA) and electromagnetic needle tracking (ENT), can improve resident procedure time and accuracy. ⋯ Radiology resident procedure time and procedure accuracy (as judged by number of pullbacks) are significantly improved by the use IPFA and ENT guidance technologies.
-
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) constitutes a high burden for intensive care units. Although several methods are proposed to monitor aeration in ARDS, availability, costs, simplicity, and hazards (eg, ionizing radiation) limit the use of many of them at patients' bedsides. Given the widespread use of lung ultrasonography (US) in intensive care units, research is growing regarding its use to monitor aeration in patients with ARDS. ⋯ Additionally, an improvement in aeration by lung US does not always correlate with an increase in oxygenation. Lung US can be considered the main imaging method for monitoring aeration in ARDS, but in view of its limitations, it should not be used in isolation. Further studies are needed to validate lung US in large ARDS populations.