Blog

The FAST exam is generally described as a trauma assessment (hence the acronym). But it is often used as a metanym to mean any assessment of the peritoneum for fluid. In fact when I was a resident folks would often say, “let’s FAST that gallbladder,” or “get the FAST machine so we can put thatRead more

This young healthy woman presented in her first trimester of pregnancy with lower abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding. She had diffuse abdominal tenderness and was mildly tachycardic with a normal blood pressure. After IV access was established, labs and blood bank sample were sent, and the following ultrasound of the right upper quadrant was obtained:Read more

This patient presented with right upper quadrant abdominal pain. There was RUQ tenderness on exam, but no fever, rebound or Murphy sign. A point-of-care ultrasound was performed to assess for signs of cholecystitis and the following image was obtained. This prompted the operator to ask, “What the heck?” What structures are visible here? How couldRead more

32 year old female with no past medical history presents with cough for two weeks, no fever, no sputum. Multiple sick contacts with same symptoms at work. She acutely presents with left rib pain for several days.  She reports no trauma, and noted the sharp, positional pain during a fit of coughing. Her vital signsRead more

X-Ray Stinks #1: Finger Injury In this new series we will highlight cases where ultrasound proved more useful than x-ray. A seven year old boy presented with distal phalanx pain, tenderness after a fall. The following x-ray was performed: What is your diagnosis? Can ultrasound help? How would you perform an ultrasound on such aRead more

54M with h/o HTN, DM, Tobacco and Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis presents with neck mass.  He looks dyspneic and uncomfortable at triage and has an obvious mass above his left clavicle to the degree that his head is tilted a bit to the right.  Concerned, the triage RN defers the EKG and A-Side attending consult andRead more

This 16 year old patient presents to the Emergency Department you have just started at in Menominee Michigan.   All of today’s patients have been on their way home this last day of hunting season.  You suspect this patient will be more interesting, as she is wearing a PETA shirt and not a shred of orange or leather.  AlthoughRead more

7 year old child with abdominal pain presented with pain, nausea.  Noted to be febrile.  RLQ tender.  Linear transducer applied to point of maximal tenderness.    Image attached was obtained.  Read more