Ultrasound and the Pregnant Patient

Abstract

Ultrasound is widely used in all medical specialties. There are multiple reasons for the increased use of ultrasound including its ease of use, point-of-care determination, and rapid confirmation of clinical diagnoses. Ultrasound is a valuable tool that can assist in the diagnosis and treatment of obstetric patients for both obstetric and non-obstetric conditions. In this review, we will describe the common applications for point-of-care ultrasound in the perioperative period including intravenous placement and guidance for vascular access, head and neck evaluation (airway exam, difficult airway), lung and chest evaluation (pleural effusions, pneumonia), echocardiography (transthoracic echocardiography and transesophageal echocardiography), evaluation of gastric contents, postoperative pain management (transversus abdominis plane block) and regional anesthesia, neuraxial (spinal and epidural conduction), bladder volume estimation, and trauma evaluation (focused assessment with sonography in trauma) exam for detection of intraperitoneal fluid and hemorrhage.