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Paediatric Ultrasound

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Although emergency physicians have been utilising PoCUS since the 1990's its use by emergency medicine paediatricians is relatively recent with a collaborative policy statement being issued only as recently as January 2015 by the American Academy of Paediatrics , Society of American Emergency Medicine, American College of Emergency Physicians and the World Interactive Network Focused on Critical Ultrasound. providing a framework for point of care ultrasound development within paediatric emergency departments. There is no specific reference to the use of point of care ultrasound for paediatric patients on the Royal College of Emergency Medicine website although guidance was published in March 2017 on minimising the use of WBCT. No reference …show more content…

It therefore would seem logical to extend their use to the pre-hospital setting at the scene of any incident or in the ground or air ambulance. Advances in ultrasound technology with good quality hand held equipment now available has made this a possibilty. The literature suggests that there is an evolving role for ultrasound Most evidence for the prehospital use of PoCUS are from small studies from the USA and europe while most most reports from the UK appear to be anecdotal. Most evidence exists for the use in trauma (FAST). The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published guidelines in 2016 stating Published: 17 February 2016 nice.org.uk/guidance/ng39) published in 2016 refers 1.3.2 'Consider using eFAST (extended focused assessment with sonography for trauma) to augment clinical assessment only if a specialist team equipped with ultrasound is immediately available and onward transfer will not be delayed. 1.3.3 Be aware that a negative eFAST of the chest does not exclude a …show more content…

In some areas there is good evidence that adequately trained emergency physicians can perform and interpret limited ultrasound scan, in other areas larger multicentre studies are still required. For clinical governance adequate training of all users is essential as is audit of their performance. Ultrasound has largely replaced CT scanning and plain radiology as well as invasive procedures with their inherent risks as the first line investigation in many medical emergencies As technology continues to advance it is likely that ultrasound will have an increasing role to play in emergency medicine both in hospital and prehospital settings. It is essential that training and evaluation through well conducted research keep pace with these advances to ensure they are to be to the benefit not detriment of patient

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