Emergency Ultrasound (EUS) is an example of a sub-category of CUS.ĬUS is intended to be goal directed and focused with the purpose of answering brief and important clinical questions in an organ system or to query a clinical symptom or sign involving multiple organ systems. ( 17) Clinical ultrasound, for the purposes of this paper, will be considered synonymous with other terms such as “bedside,” “focused,” and “point-of care-ultrasound (POCUS). It is a separate entity that adds anatomic, functional, and physiologic information to the care of the patient. Clinical ultrasonography is a diagnostic modality that provides clinically significant data not obtainable by inspection, palpation, auscultation, or other components of the physical examination, and should be considered complementary to the physical examination. It is therefore imperative that the role of clinical ultrasound in clinical practice be comprehensively considered, clearly defined, and outlined, with a clear path established to its safe implementation by well-trained and competent providers across the entire spectrum of their diverse practice settings.Ĭlinical ultrasound (CUS) is defined as a focused ultrasound examination performed and interpreted by the treating clinician, at the point of care, to interrogate a specific clinical question or to guide a procedure. As clinical ultrasound becomes increasingly ubiquitous across the healthcare landscape and through multiple specialties, this technology will be available and beneficial to clinicians and their patients in every practice setting. Today, bedside ultrasound is utilized across a broad spectrum of medical specialties to diagnose a myriad of conditions, safely guide invasive procedures, as an adjunct to treatment, and to monitor the progress of interventions or changes in a patient’s condition. These physicians keenly spent the subsequent decade validating their safe and effective use of bedside ultrasound, effectively carving a niche that is now known as emergency ultrasound (EUS), a specific category in the overarching realm now known as clinical ultrasound.( 10,11) Multiple studies have since validated clinical ultrasound as a safe, expedient, and cost-effective clinical adjunct which improves patient care.( 12-16) Advances in technology have led to smaller, more portable machines with better image quality and more intuitive user interfaces, allowing ultrasound to be increasingly and effectively employed by various clinicians at the bedside/point of care.( 1-9) Emergency medicine physicians in the ’90s were among the first to recognize the value of ultrasound at the bedside of their patients. The use of ultrasound has expanded significantly since its early applications in medicine over half a century ago.

Ultrasound protocols pdf