December 09, 2021

Ultrasound of the Month - Not all veggies are good for your health

December 09, 2021/ Joshua Rehberg, MD Ultrasound Fellow

We're back with some more exciting and beautiful echocardiogram images this month! This case and images are courtesy of Dr. Sarah Bunting, a rising ultrasound star within our program. Here she has obtained some uncommon images of an unfortunately more and more prevalent disease process. So grab your warm holiday drink of choice and enjoy our ultrasound of the month.

November 05, 2021

Ultrasound of the Month - Is your probe marker switched?

November 05, 2021/ Joshua Rehberg, MD Ultrasound Fellow

This is the inagural installment of our monthly series recognizing some great point of care ultrasound images performed in our department. This case will highlight some beautiful echocardiogram images obtained by the one and only Dr. Nicholas Fling, one of our chief resident physicians. Echo is a basic ultrasound skill that all EM docs need to have, and making sure your probe marker is set up appropriately on the screen is a great first step. The apical four-chamber view of Dr. Fling's would make anyone double check that!

July 08, 2020

Resuscitative Transesophageal Echocardiography in the Emergency Department

July 08, 2020/ Jeffrey A. Holmes, MD

We are extremely fortunate to have one of our fearless ultrasound leaders, Dr. Andrew Fried, lead us into the world of resuscitative transesophageal echocardiography at Maine Medical Center. In our recent grand rounds, he presented the latest cutting edge literature behind this technology and why its the right thing to do for our patients.

February 11, 2019

ARE YOU POSITIVE . . . OR FALSE POSITIVE? IMPROVING YOUR INTERPRETATION OF THE EFAST EXAM

February 11, 2019/ Evan Gill, MD and Randy Kring, MD

The EFAST exam is an integral component of an emergency provider’s trauma evaluation. In the right hands, it has a specificity > 90% for intra-abdominal free fluid. There are some pitfalls, however, that can trick the provider into thinking a false positive represents free fluid. In this post, Dr. Gill and Dr. Kring help us improve our EFAST interpretation and recognize these “fake-outs.”

September 04, 2018

Velocity Time Integral (VTI) and the Passive Leg Raise: Taking Volume Assessment to the Next Level

September 04, 2018/ Matt Spanier, MD

Hypotensive patients requiring volume resuscitation are a regular occurrence for emergency physicians. Clinicians are often faced with determining whether patients will respond favorably to IV fluids both before and during vasopressor administration. The ability for point of care ultrasound (including assessment for B lines and IVC collapsibility) to predict volume status and fluid responsiveness has mixed evidence. Here we explore the velocity time integral (VTI), a measurement that can be coupled with a passive leg raise to more accurately assess for true fluid responsiveness.

April 29, 2017

Locating the Dislocation: Shoulder Ultrasonography

April 29, 2017/ Peter Croft, MD

Still using propofol and brutacaine for shoulder dislocations? There is a better way. Bedside ultrasound for shoulder dislocations has been shown to reduce narcotic use, number of sedations, length of stay, cost, and radiation. Let's review the technique for shoulder ultrasonography and intra-articular injection of the glenohumeral joint.