Checking the pulse in the 21st century: Interobserver reliability of carotid pulse detection by point-of-care ultrasound

Introduction: Detection of a pulse is crucial to decision-making in the care of patients who are in cardiac arrest, however, the current standard of manual pulse palpation is unreliable. An emerging alternative is the use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) for direct assessment of the carotid pulse. The primary objective of this study is to determine the interobserver reliability for physician interpretation of pre-recorded pointof-care ultrasound pulse-check clips for patients who are in cardiac arrest.

Source: The American Journal of Emergency Medicine - September 2, 2020 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: David J. Smith, Robert Simard, Jordan Chenkin Source Type: research