The benefits of doing ultrasound exams in your office
Family medicine ultrasound is more accurate, more cost-effective, and less time-consuming than you might imagine. Here’s how it can improve your care.
Point-of-care ultrasound is increasingly being integrated into clinical practice, as an adjunct to the physical examination and patient history,1 and into medical school curricula across North America.2,3 Research confirms that this technology improves patient survival in emergency medicine settings;4 however, the benefits of point-of-care ultrasound administered by family physicians (FPs) in the office setting are less well documented.
Here we provide a comprehensive review of the indications for ultrasound in the office setting, which range from diagnosing musculoskeletal injuries and guiding injections to screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). We also address the accuracy and cost-effectiveness of ultrasound use and the training needed to make family medicine ultrasound (FAMUS) successful.
Ultrasound: A useful screening tool for abdominal aortic aneurysm
The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommends one-time screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in men ages 65 to 75 years who have ever smoked (See: https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/Page/Document/UpdateSummaryFinal/abdominal-aortic-aneurysm-screening.) Ultrasound is a reliable tool for identifying AAA5 (FIGURE 1); its sensitivity and specificity range from 94% to 98.9% and 98% to 100%, respectively.6-9 It is also superior to physical examination for AAAs,10 which has a sensitivity of 29% for small AAAs (30-39 mm) and 76% for larger AAAs (>50 mm).11
