Clinical Decision-Making in Practice with New Critical Care Ultrasound Methods for Assessing Respiratory Function and Haemodynamics in Critically Ill Patients

Abstract

Situations often arise in intensive care units (ICUs) for which only sparse primary evidence or guidelines are applicable or to which existing evidence cannot be applied owing to interactions of multiple disease states. To improve and guide intensive care management in complex scenarios, ultrasonography and echocardiography are invaluable. In five clinical scenarios involving acute deterioration, serial ultrasound examinations of the respiratory system, general critical care ultrasound (GCCUS), and non-invasive haemodynamic critical care echocardiography (CCE) were used routinely. Ultrasonographic results were used to guide further management and initiate experimental therapy or transition from curative to supportive care. The process of initiation of ultrasound examinations to clinical decision-making in these complex scenarios is outlined. These case vignettes highlight the utility of ultrasound and echocardiography. When clinical management is not clear, or evidence is not available, the use of ultrasound for the evaluation of the respiratory system, GCCUS, and non-invasive haemodynamic CCE can help to guide management, reveal newly developed pathologies, lead to clinical management changes, and support the decision for employing experimental therapy approaches in a dynamic way of which few other imaging modalities or monitoring tools are currently capable.