Diagnostic point-of-care ultrasound for hospitalists

Nilam J. Soni, Brian P. Lucas

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

We review the literature on diagnostic point-of-care ultrasound applications most relevant to hospital medicine and highlight gaps in the evidence base. Diagnostic point-of-care applications most relevant to hospitalists include cardiac ultrasound for left ventricular systolic function, pericardial effusion, and severe mitral regurgitation; lung ultrasound for pneumonia, pleural effusion, pneumothorax, and pulmonary edema; abdominal ultrasound for ascites, aortic aneurysm, and hydronephrosis; and venous ultrasound for central venous volume assessment and lower extremity deep venous thrombosis. Hospitalists and other frontline providers, as well as physician trainees at various levels of training, have moderate to excellent diagnostic accuracy after brief training programs for most of these applications. Despite the evidence supporting the diagnostic accuracy of point-ofcare ultrasound, experimental evidence supporting its clinical use by hospitalists is limited to cardiac ultrasound.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)120-124
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of hospital medicine
Volume10
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2015

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Internal Medicine
  • Leadership and Management
  • Fundamentals and skills
  • Health Policy
  • Care Planning
  • Assessment and Diagnosis

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