Introduction:

Bedside ultrasound is now more commonly used in anesthesiology and critical care. There are numerous applications beyond its role in regional anesthesia and vascular access.

Objective:

To describe how bedside ultrasound can be integrated to current clinical management is dealingwith hemodynamicallyunstable, hypoxemic, oligoanuric patient and in the patient with altered neurological status.

Material and methods:

Essay article describing a synthesis of the current literature, expert opinion, currentpracticeand recentclinicaltrials in the developmentofproposed algorithm dealing with the use of bedside ultrasound in the management hemodynamic instability and hypoxemia.

Results:

Three algorithms currently used in the hemodynamically unstable and the hypox-emic patient and the patient are described. In addition, a simple bedside ultrasound approach to oligoanuria and altered neurological status is proposed.

Conclusion:

Further studies incorporating head-to-toe bedside ultrasound by trained clinicians will need to be validated but are likely to demonstrate the significant advantages of incorporating bedside ultrasound in the practice of anesthesiology and critical care.

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