DOI: 10.1097/CCM.0000000000001110

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Issn Print: 0090-3493

Publication Date: 2015/08/01


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Point-of-Care Ultrasound

Daniel A. Sweeney

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Excerpt

Bedside ultrasonography is fundamentally changing the practice of medicine. The rapidly expanding use of this technology has outpaced the body of published textbooks that would serve this new class of clinicians who reach for an ultrasound probe more often than a stethoscope. Point-of-Care Ultrasound aims to meet this need. This book is especially notable for the fact that it covers a multitude of ultrasound uses at a depth that provides pragmatic knowledge that the practitioner can use at the bedside. As a result, this book has something to offer almost every clinician who desires to use ultrasound at the bedside including, anesthesiologists, intensivists, hospitalists, primary care physicians, and surgical specialists.
The book is well organized making it easy to be used as reference text. The first section addresses the technical basics of ultrasound, knowledge that is necessary in order to obtain interpretable images. The middle chapters are primarily dedicated to individual organ systems, with one section employing cases to address specific clinical scenarios in which ultrasound is particularly useful such as when a patient presents with respiratory failure. These chapters faithfully cover both diagnostic and ultrasound-guided procedure techniques. There are also discussions of newer ultrasound modalities such as measurement of the optic nerve sheath diameter to assess for increases in intracranial pressure. Unlike other textbooks in the field that focus on the needs of a particular specialty, this book covers a much broader range of topics in bedside ultrasound, including examination of the head and neck, soft tissue, and joints. The list of contributing authors is accordingly diverse. Besides anesthesiologists and critical care and emergency medicine practitioners, other notable contributors include experts from neurology, rheumatology, and hospital medicine. The book concludes with a section discussing the pertinent points of how to manage an ultrasound program touching on the topics of credentialing, competency, and billing.
This book is written in a style that is efficient and easily understandable. The figures and still ultrasound images are high quality and add value to each discussion. With purchase of this book, the reader is also given access to an electronic version and approximately 200 ultrasound video clips. Although the videos would benefit from labels and annotations, these film clips are an integral component of the book. The electronic version is another matter. It can be viewed on the Internet or downloaded to a tablet. The tablet version is especially appealing as it is convenient, displays beautifully, and seamlessly integrates videos with the text.
The authors of this book have struck the ideal balance between breadth and depth of coverage. Point-of-Care Ultrasound contains nearly all the detail of a textbook, yet it reads and functions like a handbook. The included electronic version is an exceptional format to view the book. In general, this book has something to offer healthcare providers across specialties regardless of their level of ultrasound expertise. As a critical care physician, I initially wondered whether a book that covered so many diverse uses of ultrasound would have any impact on my practice in the ICU. As I reviewed these “noncritical care” topics, I was reminded of the initial skepticism that surrounded bedside ultrasound only to have it become commonplace and the standard of care. The authors’ ambitious and far-reaching goals are consistent with the same spirit of those who initially proposed and advanced the use of bedside ultrasound for the betterment of patient care.

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