Point-of-Care Ultrasonography in the Critical Care Setting: Abdominal POCUS

Point-of-care ultrasonography is becoming standard practice for diagnosis and management of patients in the critical care setting. When using point-of-care ultrasonography for evaluation of the abdomen, most providers will immediately think of the Focused Assessment with Sonography for Trauma examination. However, there are a number of important abdominal applications for the nontrauma patient, including evaluation of the function of abdominal organs, differentiation of shock states, and identification of sources of sepsis. This article covers basic approaches to an abdominal point-of-care ultrasonography examination of the biliary tract, liver, kidneys, bladder, and appendix, as well as identification and management of intra-abdominal free fluid.