Transthoracic echocardiography probe in an anesthesiologist's hand: utility in the operating room

ABSTRACT

With increased availability and feasibility of bedside sonography, point-of-care ultrasonography is a rapidly developing field in many fields of emergency and intensive care medicine. Although anesthesiologists frequently encounter severe hypotension and hypoxia in the operating room and the recovery room, standardized education programs for anesthesiologists regarding bedside transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) do not exist. Compared to transesophageal echocardiography, TTE is completely noninvasive, faster, and it is relatively easier to obtain images therefore, rapid interpretation and diagnosis is possible. In this review, differential diagnosis of severe hypotension with a basic view of TTE is introduced. Anesthesiologists should be encouraged to learn TTE, and thus, they can make quick and accurate decisions about the unclear and unknown causes of severe hypotension and hypoxia.