Diagnostic ultrasound use in physiotherapy, emergency medicine, and anaesthesiology

Diagnostic ultrasound is traditionally and extensively used within the radiology department. However in recent years its use has expanded outside this traditional area into health professions such as physiotherapy, emergency medicine and anaesthesiology. The radiology community needs to be aware of the expansion of use of diagnostic ultrasound. This article starts this exploration in the health professions mentioned, however it is acknowledged that diagnostic ultrasound use goes beyond what is covered in this article. As diagnostic ultrasound is a user dependant modality and the outcome of an examination is largely influenced by the skill and experience of the operator, the radiology community should take a guiding role in its use, training and protocol development for health professionals. This article explores the literature on the use of diagnostic ultrasound within physiotherapy, emergency medicine and anaesthesiology. Literature was searched for on the databases Medline, Cinahl and Embase. Diagnostic ultrasound is being used in health professions such as physiotherapy, where it is being used to provide biofeedback to patients on contraction of abdominal and pelvic floor muscles; emergency medicine, for the investigation of free fluid within the abdomen of a trauma patient and anaesthesiology, for the placement of catheters and nerve blocks. As members of the radiology community are considered experts in the field, they need to take the lead to guide and mentor the other health professionals who are now using the modality. To be able to achieve this they must have an understanding of what these professions are using the modality for.