By Creagh Boulger on 03/01/21 04:00 AM
Transcranial doppler has been a developing interest to point-of-care ultrasound enthusiasts. While it has been a mainstay for certain inpatient indications, only relatively recently have some bold souls proposed application in the acute care setting. These uses include assessing for midline shift, vasospasm, elevated intracranial hemorrhage. This article explores an even more novel idea - using it in the early period after a traumatic brain injury to assess resultant changes in cerebral blood flow. Perhaps this could provide a non-invasive measurement with important prognostic implications. https://www.ultrasoundgel.org/107 https://bit.ly/2O04ycd
By Michael Prats on 11/23/20 04:00 AM
I know your first thought - is this for real?! The POCUS enthusiasts have gone off the rails again! Well - that very well may be the case, but hear me out- this is a fascinating idea. This article presents a novel strategy for searching for embolic etiologies in the acute phase of ischemic strokes (which means even climbing into CT with a handheld device!). "Why?" you may rightfully ask. That is a really great question, and I'm glad you asked. I guess you will have to check out this episode to find out! https://www.ultrasoundgel.org/102 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32532655/
By Michael Prats on 03/30/20 05:00 AM
It's not what you think - POCUS is not going to be used to diagnose a GI bleed. However, perhaps it can be used to risk stratify this diverse group of patients. These authors had the idea to check IVC, echo, and LVOT VTI to see if it could help predict which patients are going to have adverse events from their bleed. https://www.ultrasoundgel.org/89 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31379015