4 ms·
I use a stethoscope to listen for airflow in the lungs and murmurs of the heart. In both cases I would still order more imaging before finalizing a treatment pl
by slaw3 4y ago
I use a stethoscope to listen for airflow in the lungs and murmurs of the heart. In both cases I would still order more imaging before finalizing a treatment plan unless it is for something emergent. Ultrasound cannot assess airflow well so I don't see it replacing the stethoscope in that regard.
My unpopular opinion is that point of care ultrasound is a fad and will eventually be phased out of physician workflows. This is because I haven't seen it actually change someone's medical decision making. More often, people use it as a means to justify why they haven't actually made a treatment decision yet.
The only way I could see it have adoption is if actual radiologists (which as of now are the only physicians that went through standardized examination confirming competency in reading ultrasound studies) started doing rounds in the ER and on the wards.
- haldujai 4y agoAbstractly I wouldn’t mind that, but it would take massive system level changes to make this feasible. We used to do ICU rounds are my institution but we’re struggling to keep up with the ever increasing volume of cross sectional imaging studies. Our outpatient X-rays are going unreported for > 1 month. Even some routine MRs embarrassingly. Volumes are getting insane, in some places I’ve worked I’ve had to keep up with 80+ CTs and 100 x-rays on an 8 hour evening ER/inpatient shift (never leave at 8 hours).
- Gatsky 4y agoFrankly, the average diagnostic performance of the stethoscope doesn’t justify this approach [1]. The real world performance will be even worse. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7192898/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7192898/