Point of care transthoracic echocardiography offers potential clinical utility in perioperative care, highlighting the need for its integration into anesthetic training and diagnostic protocols.
This review highlights the potential role, clinical utility, and educational needs for point-of-care transthoracic echocardiography by anesthesiologists in perioperative care.
Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) has established its role for diagnosis and management in cardiology and is used by various other specialities in medicine, but it is not routinely practised by anaesthesiologists in the perioperative period including the pre-admission clinic/outpatient clinic. The last decade has seen the emerging role of anaesthesiologist as a 'Perioperative physician'. This review article highlights the potential role and clinical utility, education, teaching and limitations of point of care (POC) TTE modality in perioperative care. Various echocardiography society guidelines and endorsements, diagnostic protocols and limitations are enumerated. This article also discusses some of the possibilities for future education and development related to clinical ultrasound including POC TTE in anaesthetic training curriculum.
Margale et al. (Sun,) conducted a review in Perioperative care. Point of care transthoracic echocardiography (POC TTE) was evaluated. Point of care transthoracic echocardiography offers potential clinical utility in perioperative care, highlighting the need for its integration into anesthetic training and diagnostic protocols.