General ultrasound in the critically ill describes a new clinical tool: ultrasound for the intensive care and emergency physician. Written by an intensivist familiar with ultrasound, it specifically details findings of immediate clinical relevance throughout its approx. 220 pages. Through a whole-body approach, this book considers new emergency applications regarding the abdomen, venous system, head, heart, and the most original topic, the lung. Flow charts are proposed to resolve daily intensive care and emergency occurrences: acute dyspnea, shock, unexplained fever, etc. The strong points and pitfalls of ultrasound are reviewed in detail. This book shows just how critical ultrasound has proven to be in satisfying a major concern in the intensive care and emergency medicine fields: speed and accuracy. With this ever-present requirement for rapid diagnosis in mind, General ultrasound in the critically ill provides a key to practicing a visual medicine, a great benefit to the critically ill patient, especially since ultrasound is noninvasive and can be done at the bedside. This volume is not only an exhaustive atlas dealing with the most variable aspects of the critically ill patient, but it is above all a guide, a permanent aid in the therapeutic decision.

Generalities

Basic Notions
The Ultrasound Equipment
Specific Notions of Ultrasound in the Critically Ill
General Ultrasound: Normal Patterns
Organ by Organ Analysis
Peritoneum
Gastrointestinal Tract
Liver
Gallbladder
Urinary Tract
The Retroperitoneal Space
Spleen, Adrenals, and Lymph Nodes
Upper Extremity Central Veins
Inferior Vena Cava
Lower Extremity Veins
Pleural Effusion and Introduction to the Lung Ultrasound Technique
Pneumothorax and Introduction to Ultrasound Signs in the Lung
Lung
Lung Ultrasound Applications
Mediastinum
General Ultrasound of the Heart
Head and Neck
Soft Tissues
Clinical Applications of Ultrasound
Ultrasound in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit
Ultrasound in Trauma
Emergency Ultrasound Outside the Intensive Care Unit
Interventional Ultrasound
Emergency Ultrasound and Antibiotic Therapy
Analytic Study of Frequent and/or Severe Situations
Learning and Logistics of Emergency Ultrasound
Ultrasound, aTool for the Clinical Examination
Concluding Remarks.