Acute Upper Extremity Arterial Occlusion Diagnosed on POCUS in the Emergency Department

Derrick Huang, MD; Jacob Ruzicka, MD; Leoh León, MD; Latha Ganti, MD, MS, MBA, FACEP – Upper extremity acute limb ischemia (ALI) is a limb-threatening and potentially lethal pathology that is most commonly caused by vascular embolization. Outcomes of limb ischemia are time-sensitive due to the correlation between a longer time from symptom onset to intervention with a vastly higher risk of amputation. In this report, point of care ultrasound (POCUS) was utilized to rapidly diagnose a patient with a proximal right brachial artery embolic occlusion, prompting expedited surgical consultation and successful embolectomy.