ABSTRACT
What are the clinical uses of ultrasound? In the last decade there has been a rapid expansion in the use of ultrasound within anaesthetics and critical care medicine. Use of ultrasound has become routine in the theatre environment to aid vascular line insertion (NICE 2002), guide peripheral nerve blockade, e.g. interscalene nerve blocks (NICE 2009), and in some centres to also guide catheter placement within the epidural space (NICE 2008). In the critical care setting, ultrasound is routinely used for vascular line insertion, cardiac output monitoring, echocardiography, transcranial Doppler, pleural aspiration, ascitic drainage, assessment of hepatic portal vein fl ow and detection of venous thromboembolism.
