Guess that means I'm on the B team.
M. Lee Nix, BSN,RN,RVT
Director, Vascular Lab
Instructor, Department of Surgery
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
(501)   686-5318
FAX   (501)   686-8688
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        -----Original Message-----
        From:   Rob Daigle [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
        Sent:   Monday, September 13, 1999 11:19 AM
        To:     [log in to unmask]
        Subject:        Re: Scanning positions

        Don, scanning from the side of the patient is being taught in some
        ultrasound schools, and I think it's a mistake. The key ingredients
to a
        successful technical carotid scan include the ability to hold a 1 or
2 mm
        Doppler sample volume in a 1mm or 1/2 mm residual lumen and keep it
        there.  Anyone can do normal carotids, but it's the tough ones that
        require a very steady hand/arm and very subtle transducer movement.
One's
        arm cannot be resting on the patients chest. Additionally, the
ability to
        scan from a posterior -lateral position is essential. These two
critical
        ingredients are difficult  when positioned at the patients side.
I've met
        a lot of people who scan carotids and all of the people that I
consider
        to be the "A team" scan from in front of the head, and it's for a
good
        reason.  If you want to achieve the best quality exam, you can't cut
         corners on technique. My apologies for preaching to the choir, but
I'm
        concerned about what I consider to be an erosion of carotid scanning
        accuracy.
        Rob Daigle

         -----Original Message-----
        From: Don Ridgway [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
        Sent: Sunday, September 12, 1999 8:24 PM
        To: Robd; UVMFLOWNET
        Subject: Scanning positions


        This isn't what you'd call Earth-shaking, but there's a bit of a
bet:

        What position are people taking relative to the patient when
scanning
        carotids? I'm still of the old school, sitting behind the patient's
head.
        Another tech tells me nobody scans like that any more; he stands at
the
        patient's side, facing the patient, much as one would doing an
abdominal
        scan but a bit farther toward the head.

        Could I ask for a bit of a survey? There's a lunch riding on this.
You
        can
        reply straight to me so as not to clutter the Flownet up severely:

        [log in to unmask]

        Thanks a ton.

        Don Ridgway
        Grossmont Hospital
        Grossmont College