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Is
ultrasound the new stethoscope?
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The
president of the organizing committee of the 4th World Congress
on Ultrasound in Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Fernando
Silva, M.D., defines critical ultrasound as the introduction
of ultrasound into the overall clinical practice of emergency
and critical care physicians and anesthesiologists, in addition
to nurses, pre-hospital and other medical staff. In other
words, the use of ultrasound may replace the old stethoscope. |
A trauma expert specialist himself, Dr. Silva adds that an ultrasound
probe often touches a patient’s body even before the doctor’s
hands. A study on penetrating chest trauma victims who arrived
at the hospital alive, carried out at the largest US trauma center,
has demonstrated that the use of ultrasound increases survival
rates from 57% to 100%. “This is irrefutable proof that
every emergency physician must also be an accomplished ultrasonographer”,
according to Silva.
The 4th World Congress on Ultrasound in Emergency and Critical
Care Medicine will debate this topic, in addition to other major
issues involving ultrasound and its application to critical medical
situations. Among the speakers who have confirmed their presence
are Luca Neri and Michael Blavias, Winfocus presidents from 2007
to 2008 and 2008 to 2009, respectively; Daniel Lichtenstein, a
member of Winfocus’s scientific committee, Giovanni Cerri,
president of the WFUMB (World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine
and Biology), and Eliézer Silva, president of the above
conference.
Check the conference program to learn more about the sessions
to be run by these professionals as well as another 80 physicians.
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