Establishing intensivist-driven ultrasound at the PICU bedside--it's about time*
Erik Su1, Aliaksei Pustavoitau, Elliotte L Hirshberg
11Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD. 2Departments of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Intermountain Medical Center, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT. 3Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA. 4Department of Anesthesia, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA. 5Department of Advanced Clinical Practice, Duke University Children's Center, Durham, NC. 6Department of Pediatrics, Florida Hospital for Children Walt Disney Pavilion, Orlando, FL. 7Sections of Critical Care and Emergency Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada. 8Department of Critical Care Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
Objective:
To discuss pediatric intensivist-driven ultrasound and the exigent need for research and practice definitions pertaining to its implementation within pediatric critical care, specifically addressing issues in ultrasound-guided vascular access and intensivist-driven echocardiography.
Conclusions:
Intensivist-driven ultrasound improves procedure safety and reduces time to diagnosis in clinical ultrasound applications, as demonstrated primarily in adult patients. Translating these applications to the PICU requires thoughtful integration of the technology into practice and would best be informed by dedicated ultrasound research in critically ill children.
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