Ultrasound at the Bedside in the Emergency Department

The use of bedside or point-of-care ultrasound in medicine has grown rapidly over the past two decades. As equipment has become less expensive, of higher quality and more portable, its scope of use has also expanded. Bedside ultrasound outperforms a physician’s clinical assessment and standard radiography for multiple diagnoses, can speed time to definitive therapy in life-threatening situations, allows for a significant decrease in complications for many invasive procedures, and carries none of the risk associated with ionizing radiation. In addition, as the spectrum of applications and availability of technology continue to grow, ultrasound will continue to prove itself as an essential tool in risk mitigation.

In this activity, we explain the general characteristics of beside ultrasound and cover basic ultrasound machine set-up, knobology, and how ultrasound images are generated. In addition, using case examples, we provide an overview of the physics of ultrasound, describe the key image artifacts encountered with bedside ultrasounds, and illustrate common pitfalls caused by image artifact during image acquisition and interpretation. After completing this activity, practitioners should be able to: identify unique characteristics of bedside emergency ultrasound; understand the components of risk reduction related to bedside ultrasound; and describe how physician-performed point-of-care ultrasound can improve patient outcomes and decrease medical-legal risk.

Credit & MOC Details

Credit information is provided by the course provider. We recommend confirming credit eligibility with the provider or your licensing board before starting the activity.

Target Specialties

Case-based learning
Credit · Up to 2 credits
Fee · varies

Released

Mar 4, 2025
Last day to claim credit

Mar 4, 2028 1 year left

Ultrasound at the Bedside in the Emergency Department

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