July 25-26, 2010
Fairmont Chicago Hotel
Chicago, Illinois, USA

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Make faster, better-informed clinical decisions that can improve patient outcomes with the power of visual medicine! The fast-paced intensive care unit (ICU) environment requires imaging techniques that provide immediate, detailed and accurate information at the patient bedside. As a result, ultrasonography has become an invaluable tool in the management of critically ill and injured patients and proves to be an essential modality for optimizing therapeutic procedures.

In addition, ultrasound technology, like any other technology, is ever-changing with new developments and enhanced usage being discovered constantly. In fact, the use of modern real-time ultrasound units for guidance during vascular and nonvascular procedures as well as for diagnosing specific emergent conditions such as cardiac pathologies, pericardial tamponade, deep venous thrombosis (DVT), and other conditions in acutely ill ICU patients has risen dramatically in recent years due to its portability, ease of use and accurate evaluation. Ultrasound remains popular also because it is relatively inexpensive, and presents little threat to both patients and practitioners.

Since ultrasound is such a vital tool for critical care providers, the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) has developed a two-day comprehensive course, Fundamentals of Critical Care Ultrasound, taking place in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on July 25 and 26, 2010, dedicated to the latest ultrasound information available. Anesthesiologists, cardiac anesthesiologists, intensivists, critical care nurses, and any others who have an interest in ultrasonography are strongly encouraged to attend.

At the end of this session, participants should be able to:

• Describe a practical approach to ultrasonic chest evaluation of the ICU patient
• Evaluate how transducer choice effects image quality
• Review the fundamental physics of diagnostic ultrasound equipment image formation
• Describe patient positioning, transducer position and image orientation for different ultrasound studies
• Demonstrate basics of transthoracic echocardiography
• Compare advantages and disadvantages of transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) and transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE)
• Describe a practical approach to echocardiographic evaluation of shock
• Review the criteria for ultrasound diagnosis of venous thrombosis
• Describe a practical approach to FAST evaluation of trauma patient
• Discuss how to discern artifacts

Co-Chairs