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Author Spotlight: Point-of-Care Ultrasound for Gastric Content Assessment and Risk Stratification in Perioperative Care
Published on: September 22, 2023
A REVIEW OF LAWSUITS RELATED TO POINT-OF-CARE EMERGENCY ULTRASOUND APPLICATIONS
Brian Russ1, Jason Arthur1, Zachary Lewis1
1Division of Emergency Ultrasound, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas.
Failure to perform point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) poses the highest medical malpractice risk. Emerging POCUS applications may slightly increase this risk for advanced practice providers.
Area of Science:
- Medical Law
- Emergency Medicine
- Diagnostic Imaging
Background:
- Previous legal analyses identified nonperformance of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) as a primary source of malpractice allegations.
- Understanding the evolving medicolegal landscape of POCUS is crucial for healthcare providers.
Conclusions:
- Nonperformance of POCUS continues to represent the most significant medicolegal risk.
- Extended, emerging, or adjunct POCUS applications may present a marginally higher risk compared to core applications.
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