Pitfalls when using Doppler Ultrasound to Measure Peripheral Flow: A Lecture from the Hospitalist & Resuscitationist Conference

Doppler scatterers

Jon-Emile S. Kenny MD [@heart_lung]

“I am fearful, or suspicious of generalizations … they cannot guide me reliably in making decisions about particular individuals.”

-Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Between the 22nd and 24th of May, I participated in the “Hospitalist and the Resuscitationist” conference in Montreal, Canada.  I spoke on the stanchions of physiology and evidence underpinning IVC collapse and hemodynamics.  Additionally, I gave a brief overview on the principles of Doppler ultrasound for blood flow measurement.  This lecture is included below; it is a truncated version of a talk that I gave to the UCLA pulmonary and critical care fellows in early January.

Note that while we are commonly taught that the maximal velocity time integral [VTI] is the appropriate metric for calculating volume and flow, this can be incorrect – watch and learn why!

Best,

JE

Dr. Kenny is the cofounder and Chief Medical Officer of Flosonics Medical; he is also the creator and author of a free hemodynamic curriculum at heart-lung.org