Evaluation for Deep Venous Thrombosis
For patients presenting with lower extremity pain or swelling suggestive of a DVT, ultrasound can be used to visualize the compressibility of the common femoral vein, proximal saphenous vein, proximal portions of the deep and superficial femoral vein and the popliteal vein.
A DVT can be suspected if there is lack of vein compression when external pressure is applied using a linear transducer. Or if arterial compression (requires significantly higher force) occurs prior to vein compression, a DVT should be suspected.
An acute thrombus may appear as hyperechoic material filling the vessel lumen.
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Lower Extremity Ultrasound-DVT
For more information, see Evaluation for DVT page (103 - 111):
Thoracic ultrasound has shown to be more sensitive than your physical exam and as accurate as a chest CT scan. Due to its portability, thoracic ultrasound can be a very useful tool to enhance your bedside physical exam when you are trying to quickly narrow down a list of differential diagnoses for a patient presenting with shortness of breath. You can use thoracic ultrasound to evaluate patients for Pneumothorax, Pneumonia, Interstitial Edema, Atelectasis, Lung Abscess, and Lung Cysts.
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