POCUS Journal Volume 05 Issue 01, released July 2020
Resa E. Lewiss, MD; Rachel B. Liu MD; Robert Strony DO – Ultrasound performed at the point of care (POCUS) is having its moment. The COVID-19 pandemic has seemingly caused the acceleration of POCUS acceptance by hospital leaders, and POCUS examinations are increasingly performed by specialists outside of emergency medicine. What is driving this rapid culture change?
by Daniel Rusiecki, HBSc; Andrew Helt, MD; Kathryn McCabe, MD FACEP; Colin Bell, MD FRCPC – A previously healthy 46-year-old female patient presented to the Emergency Department (ED) with a primary complaint of binocular diplopia worsening over the past 48 hours. Physical exam revealed minor left inferior lid ecchymosis and was significant for proptosis.
Anthony M.-H. Ho, MD, FRCPC, FCCP; Joel Parlow, MD, FRCPC; Rene Allard, MD, FRCPC; Michael McMullen, MD, FRCPC; Glenio B. Mizubuti, MD, MSc – Whether regional anesthesia procedures should be performed in heavily sedated/anesthetized adults remains controversial. One of the purported advantages of performing regional nerve blocks in conversant patients is early warning against major nerve injury and, arguably, early detection of local anesthetic systemic toxicity.
Hanane Benbarkat, MD; Tony Sanfilippo, MD; Jian Zhang, RDCS; Amer M. Johri, MD MSc FRCPC FASE – Comprehensive transthoracic echocardiography (CTE) provides information vital to the care of acutely ill and unstable patients, but may not be readily available. Cardiac point of care ultrasound (POCUS) is well suited to providing key information at the bedside to expedite decision making. Our objective was to evaluate the feasibility of expedited-POCUS (e-POCUS) provided by the echo lab for internal medicine, cardiology and intensive care services.
Maria Gabriela Frank MD; Cason Pierce MD; Noelle Northcutt MD; Joseph Walker Keach MD; Gerard Salame MD; Rebecca Allyn MD – Many internal medicine residency programs have incorporated ultrasonography into their curriculum; however, its integration with physical examination skills teaching at a graduate medical level is scarce. The program’s aim is to create a reproducible elective that combines physical exam and bedside ultrasound as a method for augmenting residents’ knowledge and competence in these techniques with the ultimate goal of improving patient care.
Michael Yao; Lauren Uhr; George Daghlian; Junedh M. Amrute; Ramya Deshpande; Benji Mathews, MD; Sanjay A. Patel, MD; Ricardo Henri, MD; Gigi Liu, MD; Kreegan Reierson, MD; Gordon Johnson, MD –
Short-term medical missions prevail as the most common form of international medical volunteerism, but they are ill-suited for medical education and training local providers in resource-limited settings. Objective: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a longitudinal educational program in training clinicians how to perform point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) in resource-limited clinics. Design: A retrospective study of a four-month POCUS training program was conducted with clinicians from a rural hospital in Haiti. The model included one-on-one, in-person POCUS teaching sessions by volunteer instructors from the United States and Europe. The Haitian trainees were assessed at the start of the program and at its conclusion by a direct objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), administered by the visiting instructors, with similar pre- and post- program ultrasound competency assessments.
Sheena Bhimji-Hewitt MAppSc; DMS, CRGS, RDMS – Novel Corona Virus Disease-19 (nCov-19, COVID-19) was recognised as a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. As of June 14, 2020, this contagious viral disease has afflicted 188 out of 195 countries in the world with 7,893,700 confirmed cases and 432,922 global deaths.Canada has 98,787 people infected and 8,146 deaths. COVID-19 is thought to transmit through contact, droplets and aerosolization. A rapid review showed limited information on the benefits of conducting lung ultrasound (LUS) versus chest radiograph (CXR) or studies correlating lung ultrasound to chest computed Tomography (CT) in patients positive for Covid-19.