Ultrasonic Evaluation of Shock in Emergency Department - Abstract
A prompt and accurate diagnosis of shock in the Emergency Department (ED) could improve the outcome of patients. Ultrasound is fundamental to guide an early diagnosis and therapy [1] for several reasons: ultrasound equipment has become more available because more compact, higher quality and less expensive; it allows a very rapid assessment of the hemodynamic state of the patient, giving a rapid help to found the main causes of shock; it guides therapeutic interventions (eg fluid therapy, pericardiocentesis) and can be used serially to assess response to interventions in a “real-time” manner . For these reasons many Emergency and Intensive scientific societies have suggested to spread an early use of Ultrasound exam for the evaluation of critical patients in the ED [2-4] and have defined the competence and training standards for critical care ultrasonography [2,4-6].