Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast

The utilization of point-of-care ultrasound and other non-invasive cardiac output monitoring technologies varies because of knowledge, resource availability and cultural practices. In this  Clinical Challenge in Surgery episode from the Surgical Critical Care team at Behind the Knife, we provide a brief history of the use of cardiac-output monitoring in the ICU, introduce a few clinical scenarios in the context of point of care ultra-sound and other less-invasive cardiac-output monitoring technologies. Learning Objectives:  In this episode, we review the historical uses of central venous pressure monitoring, pulmonary-artery catheters and the more frequently utilized point-of-care-ultrasound (or POCUS) in managing complex ICU patients. We review the outcomes behind these technologies, describe the views and utility of POCUS, and introduce less-invasive or completely non-invasive ways to measure cardiac-output monitoring.  Hosts: Brittany Bankhead, MD, MS (@BBankheadMD) is an Assistant Professor of Surgery