For other ultrasound focused cases please see our Ultrasound Archives. A woman in her 60’s presents to the emergency department on her 7th post-operative day feeling nauseous, vomiting, weak and dizzy. She has just recently underwent a open left hemi-colectomy, end-colostomy formation for recurrent diverticulitis. . Her past medical history is only significant for type 2 diabetes, and her only […]
We know that management of the patient in cardiac arrest can be difficult. As emergency providers, we often rely on an algorithmic approach because of limited information. Point of Care Ultrasound (POCUS) has offered an unprecedented ability to diagnose and monitor these patients in real time – but how can we practically use this information during a code? What does […]
A female in her 70s from a nursing home with a past medical history of dementia, obesity, COPD, and CHF presents to the emergency department with a decreased level of consciousness and shortness of breath. Seven days ago she was assessed in the ER with a diagnosis of aspiration pneumonia and discharged home on Levofloxacin. Her vitals today are SBP […]
A male in his 60’s presents with progressive dyspnea on exertion x 1 month starting while he was swimming in the ocean. He had not been diving. He has no significant medical history and takes no medications. Two weeks after the onset of symptoms the patient had seen his family physician. A chest X-ray (CXR) was completed and was normal. An outpatient […]
Point-of-Care Ultrasonography (POCUS) is a valuable tool in the diagnostic armamentarium of the emergency physician. We have been successfully using it to the place lines, diagnose AAAs and assess the cardiac function of our dyspnea patients for awhile now. But what about the lungs? Typically air is thought of as the enemy of ultrasound, but can we […]
A female in her 20’s presents to the emergency department 15 days after major cardiac surgery to repair a congenital aortic valve defect. Her chief complaint is palpitations and shortness of breath, which have been constant and ongoing for the last 4 days. She has no PND or orthopnea, no calf swelling, or history of DVT/PE. She has no past […]
A young, previously healthy male in his 30s presents to the ED from his family physicians office with chest pain and an abnormal ECG. He has a 3-4 day history of non-radiating upper back pain and sensation of chest tightness that is pleuritic in nature and worse when supine. In addition there is a history of fever, chills, myalgias and […]
