When doing bedside studies, and finding I have to stand be beside the
patient, I reach behind the patient's head, with my left side to the bed,
wrap my arm around the back of the patient's head, and scan the left side
of the neck.  I then scan the right side of the neck, providing I have the
room to practice this "luxury".  Anything I cannot access is indicated in
the chart as "unable to assess subclavian (rt. or lt. or both), or
vertebral (same situation), due to poor access to patient while bedridden."
 I haven't had any arguments from attending MDs about this approach.

Shirley McLean, RVT

----------
> From: Knight, Steven J. <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Scanning positions
> Date: Monday, September 13, 1999 5:06 AM
>
> Everyone here scans at the head whenever possible.  I scan from the side
> when doing a bedside study and can't position the equipment in the usual
> orientation because of space constraints.  We had a temp tech here from a
> general US background and she always scanned her carotids "upside down".
> Steve Knight
> Vermont
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Don Ridgway [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> > Sent: Sunday, September 12, 1999 10:24 PM
> > To:   [log in to unmask]
> > 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