At present, there is no consensus on what a routine examination that uses ultrasound (US) should look like. Point-of-care US (POCUS) is poised to be as important a clinical skill as palpation and auscultation; however, the expansive list of potential applications can be intimidating to the beginner. In this article…
The Southern Medical Journal is pleased to publish a special issue on point-of-care ultrasound as an introduction for the readers to the expanding utilization of this technology in the clinical setting. We appreciate Dr Michael Wagner’s stewardship of the special issue as Guest Editor, as well as the authors and…
The original and most widely accepted applications for point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) are in the settings of trauma, shock, and bedside procedures. Trauma was the original setting for the introduction of POCUS and has been standardized under the four-plus view examination called the Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma (FAST). This…
Outpatient diagnosis of acute bacterial sinusitis, using only traditional physical examination and clinical criteria, results in the overuse of antibiotics in patients with upper respiratory complaints. Point-of-care maxillary sinus ultrasound is easy to learn and quick to perform in a primary care clinic. The technique can reduce antibiotic prescribing by…
I am honored to introduce this special issue on point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) for the Southern Medical Journal on behalf of a diverse group of physicians. This group is composed of academic and community physicians who practice in outpatient and hospital settings, representing multiple institutions from across the globe. Some learned…
Although the use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is well established in the emergency department (ED) and intensive care unit, the use of POCUS in the outpatient clinic setting is still emerging. General practitioners and specialists alike have increasing access to smaller and less expensive US devices that can assist in…
Mr Hughes was a 55-year-old chaplain at our hospital, the father of three boys, and was one of my healthiest continuity patients. He had yearly physicals and lab work, ran 6 miles a day, and was the last person that I thought I would have to send to the emergency…
Objectives: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has become an integral part of the physical examination. The effect on shared understanding of adding POCUS to the traditional examination is unknown, yet this is an often-described benefit of POCUS. The primary aim of this study was to determine whether the use of POCUS improves…
Point of-care ultrasound (POCUS) has become a mainstream bedside tool for clinicians in several specialties and is gaining recognition in hospital medicine. There are many clinical applications in which the inpatient practitioner can use POCUS to improve his or her diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of patients. POCUS is valuable in…
Objectives: The lack of access to diagnostic imaging in resource-limited settings (RLSs) poses a worldwide problem. Advances in ultrasound (US) imaging technology bridge this gap, particularly when examinations are performed by physicians and integrated into the patient encounter, termed point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS). Because the number of physicians participating in short-term…
It is said that you cannot teach old dogs new tricks. For those of us who completed our internal medicine residency 15 to 20 years ago, point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is just that, a new trick. There are few articles about POCUS in the internal medicine literature before 2000. POCUS was…
Objectives: Internal medicine (IM) residency point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) curricula are being developed but often are limited in scope or components. In this article, we discuss the demonstration of a need for POCUS training in our large academic IM residency program; the development of a longitudinal curriculum; and the impact of…
Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a rapidly evolving diagnostic modality and has been touted as the visual stethoscope of the 21st century. During the past decade, POCUS has emerged as a tool that can be used by internists as a POC extension of physical examinations and for providing high-quality clinical care…
I (TKR) turn 70 this year and have been a clinician, teacher, researcher, and leader in an internal medicine program. My interest in the physical examination began in medical school and stimulated 25 years of teaching a physical diagnosis course for residents.
In the last 60 years, ultrasound (US) has developed into a critical imaging tool, with clinicians using this modality as part of the noninvasive approach to patient care with an ever-increasing frequency.1–3
Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is used increasingly in resource-limited settings (RLSs), particularly as inexpensive ultrasound machines and evidence-based protocols become more available. POCUS often is the only imaging modality available in such settings, and it has the potential to significantly affect patient care. This article discusses four case-based reviews of POCUS…
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