Category Archives: SonoApps

SonoCase: 70 yr old fever, hypotensive after root canal, diarrhea & abd pain…”RUSH” +1

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This case is one of those cases that make me so proud of the residents I work with…. Drs. Brianne Steele and Cesar Avila identified the need for a RUSH exam, but didn’t stop there – they noticed something during their RUSH and proceeded with another evaluation – obtaining the surprising diagnosis below, saving him time in the emergency department and canceling his CT scan that didn’t need to be done, which I then conclude controls his healthcare charge. period.

70 year old male with a history of (ready for it…) Continue reading →

SonoCase: 15 yr old diagnosed with pyelonephritis, persistent fevers…back in the ED

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This is a guest post from my good friend and colleague, Dr. Zoe Howard, an ultrasound lover and user, part of ACEP’s medical student initiative, and helping us incorporate bedside ultrasound into the medical school curriculum. She had an amazing case where bedside ultrasound helped make the correct diagnosis for a patient who was getting worse, bounced back to the ED, and stayed in an observation unit to be seen by her (and the ultrasound machine) in the morning:

A sweet 15yo girl presented with a week of suprapubic pain and dysuria… Continue reading →

SonoApp & Study: Cellulitis vs Abscess; US more sensitive than CT for soft tissue abscess

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A patient comes into your emergency department or outpatient clinic that has a painful red area on their skin:

 -from Medicineo blog

…and you wonder whether its a superficial cellulitis, or if it’s a pus-filled abscess – and if it is an abscess, then how deep is it? how long is it? how loculated is it? Continue reading →

SonoCase: 60 yr old male, lethargic, respiratory distress, shock – “RUSH” to bedside

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The great thing about bedside ultrasound is that you can get a really REALLY good idea of what is going on with a patient within 5-10 minutes of their arrival, particularly patients who can’t tell you whats going on (whether it’s because they are lethargic and tachypneic – like this case – or altered, unconscious, or speak another language) , but, because you are a great doc, you do know by just walking through the doorway and looking at the patient that he is S.I.C.K. This case discusses exactly that and highlights the RUSH protocol, (see my prior post on the evidence based approach to the RUSH) ,but also how interpreting those applications when correlating to your exam and clinical history is key and adds greatly to your evaluation of the patient.

60 yr old guy (with an amazingly nice wife and family) with a history of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (chemo/radiation 3 months earlier), Sezary syndrome (with chemo) and Sjogren’s syndrome walks in (yes, thats right, walks in…) to the emergency department waiting room, leaning on his wife after just getting off a plane from Seattle (about a 3 hour flight) after a 1 week cruise. Continue reading →

SonoCase: 82yr old prior orbital trauma, now with eyelid swelling and pain

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This case was quite interesting and a great pick-up by the EM resident, Dr Cesar Avila. It highlights the use of ocular ultrasound with eye complaints/vision change/trauma, especially when you cannot properly evaluate the eye well due to eyelid swelling.

82 year old male with history of globe rupture and retinal detachment status post repair two months earlier presents to the ED with eyelid swelling of that same eye, gradual onset over one day with now inability to open eyelids well with yellow discharge coming from eye. Continue reading →

SonoCase: good one by a good friend – 28yr old abdominal pain on EPMonthly!

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Teresa Wu, Associate Residency Director, and Director of Ultrasound and Simulation Programs and Fellowships, for the Maricopa Emergency Medicine Program (otherwise known as “T Wu” – as shouting that loud over and over again gets even the innocent bystanders at the bar chiming in )- has joined her colleague, Brady Pregerson (who manages a free on-line EM Ultrasound Image Library and is the editor of the Emergency Medicine Pocketbook series) once again for a fantastic case highlighted in the recent issue of EP Monthly. Its about a 28 year old female walking in to the waiting room and telling the nurse she has abdominal pain Continue reading →

SonoCase: 57 yr old with acute chest pain, light-headed….

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This case is one of the most interesting cases I have heard about. A true testament to the concept that with bedside US, know what normal looks like well – because if you see something that doesn’t look normal, you may not know what it is sometimes, but it’s not normal and it’s time to explore further. One of our stellar EM residents, Dr. Natatcha Chough, went to the bedside of this patient who was brought by ambulance with appreciable diaphoresis. He was 57 yrs old, c/o gradual onset of chest pressure radiating to his back for 40 minutes (which had resolved after paramedics gave nitroglycerin), feeling light head, with associated shortness of breath, wheezing. He had a history of hypertension and aortic coarctation repaired as a child and at age 20, no history of asthma/COPD, and takes Metoprolol daily.

His vitals: T 36.3  RR 24   HR 83   BP  87/55   O2 sat 93% RA Continue reading →

SonoCase: 62 year old male c/o general weakness… you “RUSH” to his bedside…

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This case was diagnosed in 10 minutes of patient evaluation according to the resident on our ultrasound elective who performed the scan and the team caring for him in the emergency department. The team knew the diagnosis and, therefore, knew what to order quickly. The patient came with his wife by private vehicle into the triage area of the waiting room where he complained of feeling very weak, more and more over the last 2 days, gradual onset, and said he couldn’t catch his breath with just a few steps. His appetite was poor and wasn’t eating or drinking much, denies chest pain/fever/vomiting/diarrhea or bloody/dark stools. He has a history of metastatic lung cancer (on chemo), diabetes (on insulin), hypertension (on beta blocker), CHF (on lasix), and DVT (on Coumadin) – yeah, I know, survival of the fittest! From what I heard, he did have a smile on his face, so at least he had that going for him, which is so amazing to me – if only we could all be like that!

His vitals: T 36.7   RR  18   HR 90   BP 88/60   O2 sat 93% RA; code status: Continue reading →

SonoTip&Trick: “I can’t tell if it’s a pleural or pericardial effusion.” Really? well here’s a tip…

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There was a case a few years back that got a lot of attention. 56 year old hypotensive and the providers could have sworn that he had a pericardial effusion, and thus tamponade because they saw the image below on their AP4 and PSL views. They called the cath lab and the cardiology fellow who also performed their echo thought the same and set it up for the patient to get a pericardial window as he was… well….”unstabley stable” – as one of my mentors would say.

AP4:

Continue reading →

SonoCase: 75 year old coming in unresponsive…

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This case highlights an example of how bedside ultrasound can save a life. Period.

It was 330pm. The ring down from EMS was helpful; we knew the equipment we needed to get ready prior to arrival. “75 year old female, last seen normal at 2pm by family found unresponsive on the carpeted ground of her bedroom, O2 sat 94% and placed on 100% non-rebreather (NRB), shallow breaths at 12/min, weak carotid pulses with one IV access and fluids running, HR 120, blood pressure 60/p, ETA 5 minutes.” Intubation equipment, central access kit, arterial line set-up, and ultrasound machine – ready. Upon arrival, EMS states they have no advanced directive (aka full code until proven otherwise – to social worker: “please let us know when family arrives.”

In the ED… Continue reading →