Reducing the Time in Making the Diagnosis and Improving Workflow With Point-of-Care Ultrasound

Background: During the past decade, point-of-care ultrasound (POC US) has been increasingly performed in emergency medicine for a variety of indications. However, pediatric emergency physicians have been slower to understand the importance of POC US in the diagnosis of critical care cases. Objective: This study aimed to illustrate the usefulness of POC US in improving workflow in the emergency department (ED) with an early diagnosis in a critically ill child by a pediatric emergency attending physician. Case: On arrival to the ED, an early diagnosis of intussusception was made using real-time POC US by a pediatric emergency medicine attending physician well trained in pediatric US. Conclusions: This report illustrates the impact that POC US can make during an early diagnosis of intussusception. With thorough knowledge of the US features characteristic of intussusception, its accurate diagnosis using POC US has the potential to reduce morbidity and mortality as well as improve patient flow and throughput time in the ED.